Hendricks County’s public schools hand out thousands of meals so no kid goes hungry during coronavirus closures
By Lindsay Doty
Dozens of cars filed through a makeshift drive-thru at Danville High School on Monday afternoon, for meal pickups.
(Photos by Eric Pritchard)
Districts in Hendricks County are offering meal options while the schools remain close to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Danville Community School Corporation handed out to-go breakfast and lunch packages to make sure families who depend on school meals don’t go hungry while the district is closed due to COVID-19 prevention.
Each package included five breakfast meals and five lunch meals.
“We gave out 135 packages, so we did 1,350 meals today,” said Ashton Brellenthin, communications coordinator for DCSC.
“Everyone was so polite and expressing how grateful they were.”
Danville schools had planned to hand out the meals from one of the district’s school buses but the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office volunteered their command bus for food distribution instead.
“It was so generous of them and made it much easier,” said Brellenthin.
“Our second donation was Kroger. They donated plastic bags which was extremely helpful so we could bundle the meals,” she said.
“This is new territory for us all around and we had no idea how many people would need meals. Our staff and community came together and made this happen so no kid goes hungry.”
Danville Community School Corporation will continue to distribute meals throughout the week by appointment only. District families are asked to call Danville High School to sign up at 317-745-6431.
Other Hendricks County school districts that are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are offering similar meal options for students.
The Plainfield Community School Corporation’s QuakerBrake food truck made meal deliveries throughout the town, along with a white box truck, and van from Plainfield United Methodist Church.
“Thank you Plainfield Community School Corporation for going the extra mile and providing resources to families at this time!” said a post from the Town of Plainfield.
Monday was the first day of eLearning for students in Hendricks County.
