The Hernando County School District tried a new approach to feeding kids over the summer months.
In addition to daily summer meal sites, where kids typically eat prepared foods on site, the district offered three drive-thru options, where families could take home a week's worth of food at a time.
"So, every week they get five breakfast[s], five lunch[es]," food and nutrition specialist Elizabeth Miller said. "We have a refrigeration bag which will come with apples, oranges, carrots, cucumbers..."
The district's meal sites are available through the Seamless Summer Option (SSO), a program under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The state gives rural districts, like Hernando County, extra leeway to distribute food, like using a grab-and-go system.
Throughout the summer, Miller said the drive-thru meal site became a popular option for families in the district.
"The first week was crazy. It was very high. I would say we were a little over 500 cars. Then it maintained. We thought it would taper off during the Fourth of July, but nope, there was still a need. ... So yes, they've taken advantage of it the entire summer," she said.
Holly Longo, who oversees food and nutrition for Hernando County schools, said they took this approach after hearing concerns from parents.
"Last year, we got a lot of phone calls from parents that had transportation issues, issues with putting gas in their vehicles, and getting time off from work to go to our daily meal sites every day," she said.
Families in rural areas often face extra barriers, like fewer transportation options and greater travel distances, to reach food assistance, like summer meal sites or food banks.
In Hernando County, she said that there's a disproportionate number of students who are food insecure.
"And especially in summer, food security is always an issue, I think, especially in our district, where we have a large percentage of what we would call economically challenged families," she said.
Longo said this summer's drive-thru options helped address food insecurity in her rural school district.
"If the parent is at work and not able to physically come here themselves — grandma can come with the kids, auntie can come with the kids, some of the kids drive themselves here. So they have a lot of options," she said.
Next year, she said the district plans to expand operations with five drive-thru summer meal sites.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
