The Republic School District wraps up its first week of drive-through meal distribution today, and Superintendent Chance Wistrom said he expects demand for the meals to continue growing as the effort expands next week. The school district provided 230 breakfasts and lunches on Wednesday, the first day of distribution. More than 350 meals went out Thursday. Today, the school is including food for the weekend.
“I anticipate that continuing to increase as word continues to get out. We tried to be as diligent as possible in using all communication methods to inform folks, but I’m sure word will continue to get out,” he said.
Meeting a higher demand for meals should not be a problem in the foreseeable future, according to Wistrom.
“Capacity is really dependent on our supply chain, and right now we look to be in pretty good shape as our food director speaks to vendors,” Wistrom said.
Safety is a primary concern as the meals are handed out, and Wistrom said in addition to following safety procedures under the direction of state health officials, anyone helping to distribute the food is wearing masks and gloves. Through the first two days of the district’s effort, Wistrom said only a few minor adjustments have been made to the initial plan – and he credits the district’s Food Service Department for that.
“Our Food Service Department really did an amazing job of laying out the logistics of this. There’s some minor things that we’ve tweaked, but for the most part, they’re just a fantastic group, and when they found out we wanted to feed our families, they said ‘Get out of the way. We know what we’re doing here, and we’ll get the job done.’ And they have.”
Monday, the district will expand its distribution, with five school buses delivering meals to satellite locations.
“We tried to identify an area that would be most impactful in each elementary boundary,” Wistrom said. “Our bus drivers wanted to be involved, and it’s a way for them to reach out … to our kids and families.”
Wistrom said each location will have “the appropriate amount of space so people can stay in cars, or if they walk up, maintain appropriate social distancing. I think there’s been adequate information throughout this new normal that everyone understands the need for social distancing and will follow the protocols that have been established.”
Personally, Wistrom said he’s been grateful for the opportunity to interact with community members as he and other staff members have worked the lunch pick-up line.
“It’s been fantastic to see our families and our students, our staff members. It fills their hearts to be able to meet those needs,” he said. “Everyone has been so appreciative as they come through those lines, and it’s really a sense of unity hat we’re all going to work together to get through this as a community and as a school.”
The district will continue to hand out meals at the back of the middle school every weekday from 11 am to 1 pm. Beginning Monday, March 30, buses will deliver meals to five satellite locations from 11 am to 11:30 am on weekdays:
- Alpine Village
- South Lewis Street in Battlefield near the Prairie Oak Village Apartments
- Old Stone Apartments
- Hines Street Pharmacy
- Calvary Baptist Church
The district has posted an online form here and is asking families who plan to pick up meals to fill it out to help measure how much food to prepare.