ELIZABETHTOWN — County children are going to have some extra help this summer getting nourishment for both their minds and bodies.
Smithfield Foods has partnered with Bladen County Schools Educational Foundation for Corporate Initiatives to create a mobile unit designed to provide summer meals and also books. The van will provide mobile meals over the summer, books and insulated lunch bags.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor said that this was a journey for him, and expressed his thanks for the hard work of Amy Stanley, director of child nutrition.
“She is an exceptional person,” he said. “Through her knowledge and experience I have been exposed to some things that I never would have thought would have impacted me the way that they have.”
Taylor said that this would impact an estimated 4,000 children in the district, which has historically struggled with many children being on the free or reduced price lunch.
“Children having good healthy meals is going to have a tremendous impact on how they perform as students in school,” Taylor said. “A lot of times we forget that, and we are trying to really put a focus on that in Bladen County and across the region.
“We also recognize that during the summer children are without food, particularly in regions such as Bladen County. This has been an opportunity to close that gap.”
Both hot and cold lunches are expected to come out of the van, with the meals being delivered to designated meal sites for eligible K-12 students throughout the county up until Aug. 23.
“Summer feeding is truly a challenge for most districts,” Stanley said. “This is truly a dream come true to see this van getting ready to be in operation.”
She said that a majority of children that need the help are not coming to the summer enrichment programs or open gyms.
“They are the children at home that don’t have the access to get to the facilities,” Stanley said. “This van is going to allow us to go into communities and partner with these families, and build relationships.”
Smithfield Foods, a $15 billion global food company, is the largest pork processor and hog producer in the world, and the Tar Heel plant manager, Donovan Owens, spoke a few words as well.
“How honored are we to partner with Bladen County School systems in relation to this,” he said. “It is wonderful to hear the impact that this van will make. Many struggle to find highly nutritious meals. I struggle to hear that we are having that kind of issue in our own backyard.
“This is what we do; this is the fun part. The everyday job is pretty tough but coming here and partnering up with the local community and being able to see a difference that this van will make for this community is going to be wonderful to see.”
Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor told those gathered Tuesday that healthy meals impact performance in the classroom.
A ribbon cutting was held outside the board of education building in front of the new van. Those gathered included (front, from left) are Ana Velazquez, Emily Morales, Jason Velazquez, Gardenia Mendiola, Joselin Mendiola, Logan Paniagua, (back, from left) Nancy Gibson, Dr. Robert Taylor, Donovan Owens, Amy Stanley and Melony Edwards. Taylor is the school superintendent, Owens is a manager at Smithfield Foods and Stanley is director of child nutrition for the school system.
The new van has rolling shelves and it is branded by Smithfield. The van and setup was $60,000.
Amy Stanley, director of child nutrition, expressed her thanks for the support shown from Smithfield Foods.
A ribbon cutting was held outside the board of education building in front of the new van on Tuesday. Those present included (front of ribbon, from left) Ana Velazquez, Emily Morales, Jason Velazquez, Gardenia Mendiola, Joselin Mendiola, Logan Paniagua, (back of ribbon, from left) Nancy Gibson, Dr. Robert Taylor, Donovan Owens, Amy Stanley and Melony Edwards.