posted on Tuesday, July 3, 2018
“We are the largest school district in Wright County and 52% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch,” explained Tori Etter of the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School District. “For many of our students, the only decent meal they get during the day is at school, so the summer months are especially hard for them.”
If you’ve been following along our journey to Haul Out Hunger, you’ll know that food pantries are at an all-time low in the summer due to increased demand and students out for break. But thanks to the summer food program at CGDSD, 350 students are receiving lunch that they might otherwise go without.
“Our district nutrition staff organize four summer food sites where anyone under the age of 18 can go for free lunch,” said Tori. “The sites include CGD High School, park near Aquatic Center, Presbyterian Church in Goldfield and the Dows swimming pool. The summer food program is sponsored by the USDA, with oversight from state programs and of course, community support.”
In addition to the summer food program, the CGDSD prepares sack lunches for the baseball and softball teams.
“We found that some families just didn’t have the money to send with their children,” explained Tori. “Some days they leave at 9 or 10 AM, play ball all day and come back later in the evening. It’s very hard for anyone, especially an active child, to go without food that entire time, which is why we started the sack lunch program for our teams.”
During today’s delivery, our Haul Out Hunger crew donated 72 pork loins for the CGDSD that will yield approximately 1,728 servings of pork. In total, we’ll be donating 702 pork loins in Wright County.
“We’re so grateful for these pork loins that are donated every year,” continued Tori. “Not only are they delicious, but they’re packed full of important nutrients that a growing child’s body so desperately needs. These are going to make some delicious summer lunches!”
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