Workers coordinate efforts to prepare, deliver hundreds of meals
MEALS ON WHEELS — In Geneva, bus drivers Randy Schott (left) and Larry Crabtree (right) deliver meals.
Around the NRHEG communities, the words “food service” are taking on a whole new set of meanings.
“We started out with about 20 meals,” remembers Virginia Raimann, food service lead at the New Richland site. “And now we’re up to over 150.” In fact, one day this past week, the cooks from the two sites prepared and packaged nearly 500 meals for delivery to families in the four communities.
According to Governor Walz’s March 15 proclamation, schools in the state must continue three services: education must continue, childcare must be provided for the families of healthcare and emergency workers, and meals must be made available for students aged 18 and under. There is no cost for the food service, and it is not dependent on income or other social elements.
“It’s a matter of filling a need for families,” observes Elementary Principal Doug Anderson. “In some cases, parents are gone a big part of the day and don’t have much time to prepare meals. Unfortunately, some are experiencing financial hardship because of the ‘shelter in place’ order. The good news is, we don’t need any explanations. The governor’s orders are ‘feed them,’ and we’re doing just that.”
ON TO THE BUS — In last Friday’s unusual weather, cooks Jolene Viktora, Tammy Beenken, and Lonna Broitzmann worked with bus drivers Randy Schott (above) and Larry Crabtree to get the meals loaded.
Any member of the district’s food service staff will tell you this particular “order” is one they’re happy to fill. “Were glad to know the kids are getting fed,” says Raimann. Asked the same question, Lonna Broitzman, Raimann’s counterpart in Ellendale, gives the same response, literally word for word.
Their enthusiasm for the task is especially impressive given the many challenges it represents. For Broitzman, perhaps the least pleasant demand is the mountains of paperwork required by the program—including a rapid change from federal (for the school year food service) to state (for “summer” meals) guidelines, requirements, and funding. “I’m a cook,” says Broitzman goodnaturedly, “not a clerk.”
IN THE KITCHEN — Food service workers Virginia Raimann, Natalie Fell, and Debbie Starman package meals in the New Richland kitchen.
Food service staff also faces the challenges of preparing portable meals, which are self-contained, can be easily transported, and then can be quickly handed over to the recipients. In some cases, the foods and packaging materials available to them are either difficult to acquire or only available occasionally. To meet nutrition guidelines, food items are frequently ordered in bulk and then repackaged into individual servings. As is always the case with food service, a variety of items from a range of categories need to be chosen for each meal. And, since they’re still fond of their young customers, “We always try to throw in something that’s a little more fun, too.”
Workers typically begin their day shortly after 6 a.m. when they begin preparing and organizing the day’s foods. Once a small-scale “assembly line” is set up, the packaging begins. Each bag contains food intended to be a lunch for the current day, and then a breakfast for the following morning. “A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some cereal, milk, blueberries, pears, chips, celery, orange juice…” lists off Broitzman as she names the contents of a nearby bag.
Once the meals are packaged, they travel one of two paths: either they are placed in an electric refrigeration unit to be distributed to participants who come to the school site, or they are packed into coolers and loaded into a bus, where they are transported to either Hartland or Geneva for distribution. In the two more southern communities, a school staff member—quite often a bus driver—parks in a central location and waits for those who have made arrangements. Distribution is typically from 11 a.m. to noon.
Driver Randy Schott admits he’s glad to be helping out district students, “But I’d take my bus route back any day,” he adds, handing a bagged meal out through one of the bus’s “emergency exit” windows.
Back at the kitchens, the cooks have a new round of tasks to help assure that everything is in place for the next day’s meals, including sanitizing surfaces and repackaging bulk foods into individual servings. “It’s worth it to be sure the kids get fed,” repeats Raimann.
Any area families interested in having meals supplied for children in their household can get more information by accessing the NRHEG school district Web site.