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School lunch programs power on despite school closings

Three weeks into widespread school closures and the safety net that is the school lunch program doesn't appear to have missed a beat.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — The coronavirus outbreak has turned our kids' bedrooms into their classrooms, and turned the school cafeteria kitchen into a drive-thru.

Three weeks into widespread school closures, the safety net that is the school lunch program doesn't appear to have missed a beat.

"We miss our kids. We miss working with our families and there's no place we would rather be than in classrooms, but if we can't do that, we're still gonna make sure that they're fed," said Adriane Barnes, communications specialist for the Hot Springs School District.

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Cafeteria crews across the state remain about as essential as any workers, including teachers who now conduct classes virtually. But most food service staff still report to the schoolhouse because their lunch lines have moved outside.

"Chartwells is our food service provider and they're doing an outstanding job at making sure that we can feed families at two of our schools, as well as four different stops across the Hot Springs area," said Barnes.

Most districts have similar operations in place, with neighboring Lakeside delivering meals at the middle school car line and bus drivers shipping meals each morning along their routes.

Hot Springs even uses a food truck.

For the most part, it's free to any kid no matter where they go to school, taking a load off many minds knowing hundreds of meals are hot and ready to go.

"We're low income and they're really helping us out," said Robert Braun, who stopped by the truck on Park Ave. with his daughter Izabella, a third-grader.

Braun has stopped driving his ice cream truck since social distancing means no crowds looking for snow cones. The meals help when the virus takes you from paycheck-to-paycheck to day-to-day.

"We can't go to the grocery store and buy two buggies full of food at a time," he said. "We go down to there pretty well everyday and get what we need for that day."

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But the Braun's applauded the men and women who still work in the stores and the school kitchens.

"We know things are hard for families. We know things are hard for kids and teachers," said Barnes. "I couldn't be more proud as an Arkansan to see schools shining during this time."

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