Food waste no more—this school district is eliminating waste and feeding its hungry students.
The Elkhart School District of Indiana has begun packing up their leftovers so that students can take home meals for the weekend.
Many of the students at Elkhart rely on the free breakfasts and lunches that are provided at school, so when there is no school on weekends, many students go hungry.
When administrators picked up on this problem, they became quite aware of how much food was also being wasted in the cafeterias each day. So to lend a hand, the district partnered with food rescue group Cultivate to collect, package, and freeze all of their unused food from lunches.
Now, every Friday, students can pick up a backpack with 8 frozen meals for their weekends at home.
Melissa Ramey, from Chamber Leadership Academy, said that the program is making a big impact.
“It was heartbreaking to hear that children go home on the weekends and that they don’t have anything to eat,” she said.