Do children go hungry when snow closes schools?
Posted 03/02/10
Authorities say some children rely on school meals for survival
By Jonathan Austin
editor@newsrecordandsentinel.com
When schools close due to bad weather, many people assume kids react with glee, freed from the rigors of the classroom. But a closed school may also mean children going without breakfast or lunch.
So if school is closed for several days in a row, are children going hungry?
“We know that things are not good across our entire region, including Madison County, even when the weather is good,” said Joshua Stack, the communications and marketing coordinator with Manna FoodBank in Asheville.
Michael Wallin, the child nutrition director for Madison County Schools, said he “definitely” thinks school children go hungry when the weather closes schools, “especially when they’re missing three or four days in a row.”
So who normally relies on school meals for their nutrition? “On an average day we serve about 1,047 for breakfast a day and 2,004 for lunch,” Wallin said. “Of the lunch meals, 1,248 lunches are free or reduced,” he said. “About 775 breakfasts are free and reduced.”
He said cafeteria managers can often identify the students who may be missing meals at home. “They can tell” who is hungry, he said.
Kids get to take food home
Whether the students are getting nutrition is not a trivial question in a region where hundreds of children receive emergency food each year through the Manna FoodBank network of emergency food providers.
So how do food banks get the food to the hungry? It is sent to the schools every week, and then carried home by the children. “The children really get a sense of contributing to the family, when they bring that bag of food home,” said Willa Wyatt, a retired school principal who coordinates the Madison County backpack program at Mars Hill Baptist Church.
Manna FoodBank and Madison County agencies use the county schools as a distribution point to send packaged food home for children and their families. Volunteers at area churches pack each backpack, and then Rotary Club members deliver the backpacks to the schools. Then the school children enrolled in the program grab a backpack to take home for the weekend.
Some students avoid ‘charity’ meals
But what if school is closed due to snow? Do the children have anything at home to eat?
“We would hope so, but we really have no idea,” Wyatt said.
“When we’re packing for all the children (we serve), we’re packing 174 backpacks,” Wyatt said. “We are packing about 700-800 pounds of food to go home with children every week.”
Wyatt said a backpack sent home includes something like “chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, biscuit mix, corn, apple sauce, sunflower seeds” and other staples. Each backpack weighs five to six pounds. Wyatt said the pack includes enough for other family members, especially older siblings who might be ashamed to be seen taking ‘charity’ food home from school.
But there is no safety net to get the backpacks in the childrens’ hands if school is closed, officials said.
“What we have done with some of these weekend snowstorms is get the bags out on Thursdays,” said Stacks. But he acknowledged that the mountainous terrain always makes it difficult to serve everyone. “Access is always going to be an issue in our service area, with the rural nature of things.”
He said families should contact charities or fire departments in their community “when school is closed” if they need food assistance.
Wyatt said food packs could be sent to churches or to the Salvation Army when snow closes schools, but the families still might be stranded miles away over snow-covered roads. “The thing is, (it’s hard) getting it to them.”
According to a recent study released by Manna, one of every six people in the mountains seek help from food banks. Manna estimates 33,000 of those are children.
“Of all the households served by Manna’s partner agencies, 75 percent face hunger. Of those households with children, 84 percent face hunger,” according to a Manna press release. “Only 45 percent of the client households served by Manna FoodBank receive Food and Nutrition Services benefits,” which was formerly known as food stamps. “It is likely that many more are eligible.”
Stacks, the Manna spokesman, said agencies understand that the number of people facing hunger issues is not going to decrease. “This program is growing by leaps and bounds.” “We always have to be mindful of capacity,” he said, “but we will always strive to meet the demand.”
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