MC Schools Partnering with The Vue to Feed Students
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MOUNDSVILLE -- As thousands of Marshall County students complete their assignments from home, district officials are partnering with a local restaurant to feed them while keeping employees on the clock.
Since the closure of the county's schools earlier this month, Marshall County Schools faculty have been working to provide meals to students, which are delivered to families daily, through an adaptation of the summer meals program. Beginning April 8, employees with The Vue, the restaurant at Grand Vue Park, will be assisting with preparation of those meals, which go to more than 1,500 students across the county who rely on the school system for breakfast and lunch.
Director of Child Nutrition Debbie Derico said the district had been directed by Gov. Jim Justice to reach out to local parks which had closed to try to get some employees, who'd had their hours affected by the stay-at-home order, back to work.
"We reached out to Grand Vue and they were so excited," Derico said. She added that the first two weeks, which have seen faculty working daily to produce meals for students, have been interesting, but also demanding on the staff.
"It's been very interesting, very demanding, and very humbling. It's been an adventure, and it's amazing how our bus drivers, our cooks, the aides, the county office administrators have come together to feed our students. In our first week -- and our numbers are increasing -- we fed about 1,500 to 2,000 students, and we feed them breakfast and lunch, so those meals multiply fast. … It's been a great system, and I'm so proud of everyone here at Marshall County Schools. They're truly dedicated and devoted to feeding our students."
Jason Miller, co-owner of The Vue, said he was happy to both be able to support his community while also getting some of his employees back on his payroll. Miller said 10 employees would participate in the program.
"We're very excited to partner with the Marshall County Board of Education, and it gives us an opportunity to re-employ some of our employees who had filed for unemployment," he said. "It's a great honor, and I look forward to providing great meals for these kids. We've got a crew of 10 that are going to work out of the warehouse here and have everything set for production."
While the meals have thus far been provided daily, starting Wednesday the meals will instead be provided weekly, with five days worth of meals offered, in order to reduce the amount of contact between families and faculty.
"It is tremendous. We need to keep our employees safe, and at the same time be able to provide these much needed services to our students. Going to one-day delivery next week, that'll alleviate the contact that we have our staff make ... and it alleviates asking the parents to come out. Starting Wednesday, they'll get five breakfasts, five lunches."
The need to better preserve this food, Derico said, will necessitate a change in how the meals are provided, with more of an emphasis on frozen food.
"Especially with main entrees, it's hard to find five entrees that are shelf-stable. We're going to, starting (Wednesday), send out frozen items, and we'll have them bagged together at temperature with instructions...
"No matter what, we'll be here to provide meals to our students."