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Date: 5/31/2022
HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Public School District has received a $500,000 grant to fight food insecurity across the district. Because more than 81 percent of students are living in extreme poverty, every student qualifies for free or reduced lunch.
The grant, made available through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, helps Holyoke schools make sure students have ongoing, reliable access to healthy food – and there are several ways to ensure this.
School officials are using part of the grant to purchase a large combination refrigerator and freezer to be installed at Holyoke High School’s (HHS) north campus. The new fridge replaces the old unit that had become unreliable and in constant need of repairs. The new refrigerator-freezer will also store larger amounts of food.
“We’re not able to store large quantities of food right now. There are currently severe supply issues so we need to be able to order and store large quantities of food because if we don’t, we might not be able to secure food in the future. This will allow us to be able to buy and store more food,” said Cheryn Powell, district director of grants.
Matt Kuzmeskas is the district’s executive director of technology and operations. He said the new unit will take the risk out of storing food in an old refrigerator-freezer.
“The old unit did need repairs, but we were able to make them quickly and didn’t have a problem losing food. We hope to have the new unit in place by next school year, but because the supply chain is such a mess, we’re not sure when the new unit will be delivered,” he said.
Currently HHS north doesn’t have a generator, so if power were to go out, the food could be at risk. The grant is funding a new generator for the school.
“If we ever lose power the food would go bad so the generator system will not only keep the freezer going, but it can also power the entire kitchen, making it an emergency feeding site,” said Powell.
The grant is also paying for a mobile food truck that will go into the community and deliver food to the children who need it. The truck will make appearances at both high school campuses, bus stops, summer feeding sites, and other locations.
“Transporting prepared food in a city like Holyoke can often run into transportation barriers. This mobile truck will allow us to take food into the community,” said Powell.
Powell also said some students are reluctant to line up for free food because there is still a stigma attached to not having to pay for lunch. She said the mobile truck should shatter that negative perception.
“Food trucks right now are seen as trendy. We need to be able to get food to a place that’s closer to their homes. People need the food and they’re not accessing it either because they’re embarrassed or its not convenient,” said Powell. “The food truck takes the stigma out of it.”