BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — A Tri-Cities nutrition team has been on the go since the pandemic first closed schools in March 2020.
Administrators within Bristol, Virginia Public Schools have worked tirelessly to ensure no kid is deprived of a hot meal, within its school system.
This week’s community hero is Kathy Hicks.
Thanks to Hicks, the school system has served more than 570,000 meals from March 2020 to April 2021, all through a non-profit called “No Kid Hungry Virginia”.
She coordinates breakfast and lunch to in-person students four days a week, and then distributing take-home meals for students to take for the weekend.
She said the meals build a foundation to make the students to be able to work.
I want every child in this school district to eat, to never be hungry, to never have to worry where the meal is coming from the next day or the next few days, and just to make sure that they are well-fed with nutritious food that will help them be able to learn and do what they need to do in the classroom so that they can be successful in life,” said Hicks, Bristol, the director of nutrition programs.
Hicks and school nutrition specialist Leeah Parks have been able to adjust to the students’ needs consistently throughout the pandemic.
“We started out as with things like putting milk crates on buses with coolers and ice and driving from, I guess to the community to community to make sure children had food,” Parks said.
