Habersham County School officials now say the system will provide meals for students during the two-week coronavirus shutdown.
Following a meeting Monday morning, Director of Elementary Schools and Coronavirus Action Team leader Rhonda Andrews announced the school system has received a USDA waive to provide meal service during the coronavirus outbreak.
“This morning, our school system food security team met to develop a comprehensive plan to provide food for children in Habersham County. The school system now has a plan in place to provide limited meals to community children age 18 and under,” Andrews says.
That plan will begin in conjunction with Habersham County’s “learning from home” plan on Tuesday, March 17th. Starting Tuesday, meals may be picked up daily between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at all eight elementary schools in Habersham County. Lunch will be distributed, along with a breakfast for the following day.
READ full statement on student meals here
The news is a welcome relief to many in the community who were concerned about how students, particularly those from low-income families, would be fed. Many of the county’s students rely on reduced or free lunch plans to meet their nutritional needs.
The school system’s earlier announcement that it would not provide meals during the shutdown caused an uproar in the community and spurred local churches to act. On Friday, March 13, Connextion Church Lead Pastor Mickey Carroll released a live stream on social media asking the community for help. He, along with Bethlehem Baptist Church Children’s Minister Jessie Smith, started getting the churches, donations and volunteers in place.
Two days later, on Sunday afternoon, a steady stream of donors flowed into the Bethlehem Baptist Church parking lot to drop off donations of food and money.
“Truly, I couldn’t count how many people came to drop off donations,” says Smith. “It was a constant stream for two-and-a-half hours.
“When I saw all the bread, peanut butter, jelly, chips, fruit, and water I was just blown away,” says Carroll. “I’m flabbergasted by it. It’s just a testament to people’s hearts and our community and how people truly do love Habersham County.”
Using the donated food, about 40 volunteers packed 3,000 lunches. Today, they’ll begin distributing those lunches – about 800 to start with – to children throughout the community.
Students’ families may pick up bagged lunches today at six county churches including Bethlehem and Victory Baptist in Clarkesville, Hollywood Baptist Church, Riverpoint Community Church in Demorest, and Level Grove Baptist and Connextion Church in Cornelia. (See list of churches for times).
Volunteers will also distribute meals in several local communities.
Leftover meals are being safely stored in the kitchen at Bethlehem Baptist Church to be used as needed for as long as needed.
Now that the Habersham County School System is providing meals to its students during the pandemic shutdown, the donations will still be put to good use. Prior to the school system’s announcement, Smith said the food will be donated to the local soup kitchen and distributed to families who lack transportation to get to the soup kitchen and Food Bank. The monetary donations – $2,000 in all – will be used to pay off elementary school lunch balances.
“We definitely won’t let anything go to waste it,” says Smith. “It will all still go to kids in the community.”
Reflecting on how the community has rallied together over the past 48 hours to provide meals for students, Smith says she’s proud.
“I’ve lived here my entire life and I’m just really proud to be a part of this community right now,” she says, “and a part of the church as a whole. So just, thank you. Thank you for loving these kids.”
