Weakley County Serves More than 250 Meals in First Day of Closure

School nutrition staff served 264 lunch and breakfast combos at six locations across Weakley County in the first day of school closure.

“With all we are hearing, those numbers are sure to increase, and we want families throughout the county to know we are ready,” noted Trista Snider, the director of school nutrition.

A complete lunch plus an additional milk and breakfast item are included in the packaged meals distributed via a “drive-through” system customized for each venue. The timing for distribution this week is 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Current school locations include:

o Dresden Elementary/Middle- back awning

o Gleason- back door bus drop off

o Greenfield - front door - main entrance

o Martin Elementary - side bus awning

o Sharon - front door

o Westview - front door

The food distribution is for any child from 1 to 18 years whether they are a student of Weakley County Schools or not; however, they must be in the car to receive the food at the drive-through locations. Families can choose any location to receive meals.

On Wednesday additional sites will be added to ensure that children and youth have easy access to the meals, Snider explained. The two newest locations are the Pillowville Country Store, 124 Hwy. 190, McKenzie, and Martin Housing Authority’s Tom and Ann Stuart Community Center, 120 Mankey Street in Martin.

On Thursday, the Palmersville Fire Department, TN-89, will be added as a drive-through location.

“We anticipate adding other locations next week so that we can make access to the meals as easy as possible,” said Randy Frazier, director of Weakley County Schools. “We are prepared to utilize bus routes and other creative approaches; however, we are still facing some hurdles from the state regarding regulations that, at the moment, prohibit those approaches. We are doing all we can to overcome these hurdles.”

Snider reports that the current cafeteria staff are prepared to finish out this week without additional help.

Frazier added, “We are grateful for the many individuals, churches and even our teachers who have volunteered to assist. At this time, though we do not need the assistance, we want to encourage all clubs, organizations, churches and nonprofits to consider how they can meet the needs of their neighbors for the meals we do not provide and, very importantly at this time, the members of our communities such as the elderly who are not recipients of our school nutrition program.”