Along with many changes and challenges this year, Fayette County cooks have been steadfast and hardworking through it all. The countless hours behind the scenes to provide meals for our local families should not go unseen. They stepped up when they had to and continue to do so every week. The cooks are constantly adapting to a new dynamic to meet the needs of families in our community.
Back in mid-March of 2020, uncertainty was brewing in many minds of how the children who rely on food from the school will stay well fed.
Kristen Derringer, a cook at New River Primary, “didn’t know what to expect and how things were going to work” when Covid-19 first came.
In some cases, families were even being fed supper provided by the school while in school; they didn’t know what they were going to do with now the loss of all of their meals.
Terri Neff, a cook at Fayetteville PK-8, was worried for the children, “Working in a school for seventeen and a half years, I’ve seen the struggles some children go through.”
The federally-funded meal program statewide provided nutritious meals to thousands of kids and their families otherwise would have gone hungry during the pandemic.
Derringer explained how the summer meal was tremendously beneficial because the parents and guardians that were affected physically and financially got food to help feed their families.
With the loss of unemployment checks and many people struggling, it was able to “soften the grocery bill” for families, says Andy Pense, the Director of Food Nutrition for Fayette County.
Fayette County is still providing breakfast and lunch for all virtual students. Pense said, “the school decided to offer these meals because many students depend on school for their nutrition, and with remote learning for some students, they may not get these much-needed meals.”
Families are extremely grateful for what Fayette County did during this time of need.
David Olds, a parent of a child with special needs, shared his gratitude on Facebook saying how very pleased he was with the cafeteria staff, Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Hedrick at Oak Hill Middle School. Ms. Dickerson, cook at OHMS, adapted a specialized menu to accommodate the necessary dietary restrictions.
The cooks have been nothing but hard-working and diligent throughout the pandemic. They have made sure the students in Fayette County are fed despite their workload.
“Our workload has tripled,” says Neff.
The cooks have had to provide food in a format they have never done before. Passing out food on trays has been the norm for them, but now everything is a grab and go. “It has been very difficult to prepare the meals along with cooking warm meals for the children in school,” Neff explained.
Cooks had to figure out what was the safest way to hand the food out and timing it to make sure it stayed cold or warm. The cooks also had to adapt their kitchens that were not designed for bag and packet assembly.
“If I were going to design a kitchen for a pandemic, it would have been designed very differently than when it was designed for a normal school year. We just adapted through constant trial and error to solve these problems,” says Pense.
Although these times have been very stressful and full of uncertainty for the cooks, “seeing the smiles on the kid’s faces walking through the hallway makes it all worth it,” says Derringer.
Pense believes they have broadened their impact because homeschool kids, private school kids, or kids who are too young to be in school, can all get meal packs as well. Meals are available for any student under the age of eighteen. It is important that our community knows what is available to them at hand, to help reduce the rate of hungry families.
Now that Fayette County has returned to five days a week, cooks are still providing food in a format they aren’t used to.
Derringer expressed that, “now being back five days a week, it has been challenging to find the time to get meals packed while still providing breakfast and lunch for the ones that are in school too.”
They provide breakfast and lunch in bags and trays, which makes it more accessible and safer to the students.
Our county is very grateful for all the work and time the cooks have put in since the pandemic. No matter the situation, they will always find a way to make sure the students in Fayette County will not go hungry.