Well welcome to perspectives from WFSU Public Media I'm Tom Flanigan in this program using the zoom platform was pre-recorded on Tuesday March 9th for playback on Thursday March 11 the show to be aired on WFSU fm we'll also have it archived on our WFSU.org website well maybe it's because spring is in the air and boy in Tallahassee you can tell that because the pollen is everywhere so we know spring has sprung and and it may be because the temperature on public discourse in our country has kind of edged down a couple degrees and it may also be the fact that COVID vaccinations have now accelerated to a breakneck pace so in just a few short weeks it seems like there has been an increasing sense of optimism and hope maybe you felt that too but even as we celebrate these positive developments you know we have to remember that not everyone is experiencing better times as yet if you notice on nearly every corner we're seeing people who are looking for help and there are still a lot of stories abounding of families who find themselves in dire straits and that includes untold numbers of our neighbors who literally don't know where that next meal is is coming from so we thought we could put together um an up to the moment report on what's happening in our community and especially our schools because that's where the rubber meets the road for so many interconnects in our society and our community so boy do we have a super panel here today on perspectives and before we introduce um that panel I wanted to send out a an immense shout out to Laurie Messer who is a board member of um the folks who do the annual uh full summer situation they have now had to go virtual because of the situation but uh Laurie was really a spark plug in putting all this together so let's meet our panel here for today of course it would not be a panel on anything having to do with food and security if we couldn't have Monique Van Pelt the executive director of second harvest of the Big Bend to join us Monique it is so good to see you and it looks like you you continue to persevere in the face of what some people would say be almost insurmountable obstacles but you're uh it's so great you could take time out to join us today of course thank you we also say hello to James Howcroft Leon County schools a nutritional services guy in charge of that James thank you for joining us here on perspectives today my pleasure be here we have uh Kerri Anderson who is the principal at WT Moore Elementary School who is joining us here also on perspectives to kind of give us a look-see as to what's going on uh on the ground in one of our schools and madame principal thank you for being part of the conversation today absolutely thank you for having meDr.

Michelle Gayle assistant superintendent with Leon County schools also on our panel today and uhDr.

Gayle a pleasure to see you ma'am thanks for joining us my pleasure good afternoon all righty uh starting with you Monique Van Pelt let's go to the 30 000 foot overview here on what is happening since the pandemic hit and you saw that the number of people who are in absolutely extremis when it comes to the need for food had increased exponentially where do we stand right now Monique and how is second harvest's response to that progressing um so things that we understood um about food insecurity prior to COVID 19 was um if we look at i'd like to talk about kind of like where the state was and then where our region was because there's a story to be told there state wide prior to COVID 19 13 of all Floridians were food insecure um post COVID19 that number only grew to 13.4 so not that many more people across the entire state um experience food insecurity but when you look at the Big Bend region um prior to cove at 19 are of the entire population here in the Big Bend uh 14.6 percent were food insecure so a little bit more than the state average but after COVID 19 hit um that number more than double 29 of anyone in the big ben region who's experiencing food insecurity that number is about 150 000 individuals um and today that is 31 000 children um who may not have dinner tonight um so that the number of children grew in our service area from just over 20 000 um to well over 30 000 children experiencing food insecurity due to the pandemic that seems absolutely mind-numbing the fact that we went from just slightly more than what the state of Florida as a whole was seeing to a a doubling of that incidence what are you hearing how come why is this well there's a lot of since there's a lot of vulnerability and the big ben region largely due to um it being rural in nature um in our service area Leon County and Tallahassee specifically is kind of like the mecca of jobs and opportunity um for financial stability and then beyond that there's great opportunities for people to not have upward mobility in terms of employment to have more fragility and their financial um foundation and I think that that's really what we've seen rocked is uh those who were living in the margins on the edge paycheck to paycheck uh the disruption caused by the pandemic and the ripple effect due to the virus has hit our region of the state in a in a profoundly different way than you might see if we just look at the average across the entire state of Florida and I would suspect as well even though I don't have the solid evidence right here in front of me but the lingering impact of hurricane Michael on this area especially in the more outlying regions which already were a bit marginal in the economic development arena to begin with and that has I know caused a significant amount of a pullback of resources when it comes to things like the the timber industry and some of those other uh economic factors that were uh really one of the few things keeping some of those areas going so I imagine that has something to do yeah I think that the resiliency of of of communities has been tested in a lot of ways here in the Big Bend um multiple storms over the last few years fires um a pandemic those are all going to be disasters that really test the ability for a community to bounce back and when that community is already limited in their resources their ability to exemplify um resilience um not in spirit I think our community is is remarkably resilient and spirit in spirit but our ability to rebound um in terms of economics is slower when anything goes awry in our society somehow some way it always tends to come home to roost in our school system in some ways shape form or fashion soDr.

Michelle Gayle let's turn the conversation to you for a moment as far as Leon County is is concerned and what you're seeing with the the kids many of whom have stayed out of school whether they have transitioned over into you know private school or being homeschooled or everything you don't have a full enrollment in the Leon County school system but still when it comes to food that's where a lot of kids and families depend on the schools for for that sourcing what are you seeing here in Leon County well those same type of needs for food uh so much so and I just have to start off by saying thank you so much to Monique because she has been a partner um since the second week of COVID starting last year where she supplied um emergency food kits for our schools miss Anderson school was one of them where families could come by fill out a form and they could get emergency food so that continued throughout the summer we have the summer feeding program which James Howcroft he heads up and he had to be very innovative in the way that he uh implemented the program this year and it continues even though it's not summer so that need for food is still very prevalent so much so that again Monique just have to give her a shout out at second harvest because we have been able to implement because of the need a full Friday backpack school program at 11 of our schools in the district so that need is there and I'm going to tell you something there is not a week that has gone by where there's not someone calling our offices or my office to say hey my family needs food and just knowing resources to point them in makes a huge difference um and so yes that need is very prevalent and we're doing everything that we can um to meet those needs well you just gave a shout out to James Howcroft the nutritional services guy with the uh with the public school system in in Leon County and James let's just talk to you for for a moment here and see how are you pulling that off uh when you have a lot of kids who don't come into school anymore how can you get the food out to them well we started last year after spring break we went home for spring break and then we came back to work and just started serving kids we served over 275 000 meals at 40 different school sites in the spring until we went into summer and then over the summer we ran our summer food service program and of course Monique andDr.

hill were there all the time with different drive-through and meal pickups and it was a collaborative what we do is the kids come to us and we feed them obviously even breakfast and lunch we have after school programs uh we have uh currently we're doing digital academy meal pick up so the kids are studying at home can come through one day a week and pick up 10 meals five breakfasts and five lunches uh we also have three uh summer um curbside meal pick up locations where you can drive through uh daily and pick up meals and also we even this year tried uh the bus routes we went out into the communities in the bond and Pineview communities that are serving meals via bus and also through the programs we have farm to school going on we've got fresh fruit and vegetable programs that are always educating our students the new uh and exciting vegetables that they haven't tried yet but this is uh we have hungry kids 100 people around us all the time and I'm so happy over the past couple weeks you've seen several different uh both on on print and on tv this being discussed by different people because I think it's going to take the whole community working together and continually to talk about it to to try to solve this well we'll bring it down now to kind of we we were in the macro let's go into the micro dimension right here with uh uh principal Kerri Anderson at WT Moore Elementary and principal Anderson how has that been working out what James was just talking about as far as those distributions and the the kids actually you know showing up you you can provide them with food while they're there but you've kind of lost touch with at least some of the enrollment at WT Moore haven't you um I think enrollment is down throughout the district probably at most schools have seen a dip in enrollment um you know and we can definitely point that towards the pandemic and and what has happened um but through even starting right after spring break our district has been committed to serving the families in our community and so it was as simple as this is what we're going to do we're going to feed these families um nutrition services stepped up our cafeteria manager Ms. Mosley was here all throughout the summer um she's still serving to our just to our um digital academy families um once a week for that pickup and so the families make it happen we communicate with our families what day what time they come and pick up we had volunteers throughout the spring semester and into the summer that would come and help us distribute we were seeing quite a number of cars coming through to get those meals families were not prepared to have to keep their children home for that last quarter of the school year and so we had to um through through the hard work of our superintendent our nutrition services and all of the volunteers that that came in to make it happen provide those meals so that the children would continue to be able to eat whether they were at school or not and I know that there were some logistical issues that had to be worked out for families that did not have transportation which is why buses were being used vans were being used to get the food out is as much as possible but right here we were able to serve families from this area whether they were you know attendance of our school or not they were able to come and get healthy meals for their children on a daily basis and so I know how many families were grateful for that opportunity Monique Van Pelt in addition to the school food distributions that second harvest of the Big Bend has been involved with you folks have also had just an unrelenting ongoing series of food distributions out in the community not just in Leon County certainly but the entire 11 county area that falls under the purview of a second harvest of the big ben how have those been going and have the numbers of food recipients uh continued uh to be as high as we saw at the beginning of the pandemic nearly a year ago now um so I think that um the numbers are definitely holding we're not seeing uh the numbersDr.op off um we our model has changed a lot Tom I think that when we initially started our response second harvest took the approach of being go big we wanted to be out in the community at centrally located um spots in town we we sought the largest parking lots we could find so that we could support these mega distributions um and that was for there were a couple tactics for that one is we wanted to make sure that in the most uncomfortable of months where there was great silence and what came next the second harvest was part of a voice saying we are here for you we are standing in this moment to support our community and we wanted to be loud and present in in in the community serving um and we were able to best do that by being at these large providing large mega distributions and being centrally located in our community um quickly though we learned with our community about the need and where um different concentrations might exist throughout the county and we did we learned um one simply by listening but then two we truly pulled people that were coming through our distribution lines and we wanted to learn you know was car sharing occurring how many families were being represented by every car how many members um were being served by each family member that was present because we wanted to know was our 12 pound box of food even touching the need that that family had you know was I giving them 12 pounds of food but the average family size was seven for example um and so we could learn a little bit about what the need was how many people were in these cars and then we wanted to know what zip code were you coming from how far were people having to drive and that really informed the way that we transitioned our approach to go to the neighborhood level and respond more macro directly to where we knew the need was and that was in an effort to make sure that we weren't following um or responding only to what was most convenient for us the agency which of course is large large parking lots to get our trucks into no trees to have to negotiate but oftentimes you're going to find that what's most convenient for you may not need the exact need of the individual you're trying to serve so we went directly to those neighborhoods and really focused on this micro work during the summer and winter um and and what's changing this week actually Tom I mean this is kind of like hot off the press and um this broadcast might actually be the first kind of time people are hearing about this when it airs on on Thursday but we are going to um we're trying to embrace this idea that a food bank um uh must be responsible for more than just passing food out and feeding the line that our responsibility is also to end the line and we don't do that by giving food out we do that by leveraging the relationships that we have in the community and being holistic in our approach and the way that we're doing this first it'll happen the first time it's going to be this Friday is we're teaming up with agencies in our community to provide a united front and holistic response to the needs that neighborhoods themselves have said I need help in these ways so on Friday this week we're going to be showing up in neighborhoods with legal services employment services DCF food intervention and medical intervention and provide this holistic response to the need that neighborhoods themselves say we need these services so second harvest has absolutely seen an evolution in the way that we respond and engage in our community and couldn't be more grateful for partners like the principals throughout our communityDr.

Gayle has been absolutely instrumental in making sure that our interventions with the school is successful and opportunities like this to really talk about it educate the community and invite people to participate with us are key to the success that we've seen it sounds like a resource triage is what you're talking about that is absolutely incredible wellDr.

Gayle how does Leon County public schools fit into this more holistic approach to meeting the needs of specific areas that go beyond just the fact hey we got some hungry folks here you've got to bring much more to bear on the problem how do you guys fit in there that's an excellent question so we've been doing this for a while um we have and again I'm Monique's biggest fan um we have been staging mobile food pantries on since the beginning of the pandemic and so looking at you what's that um that saying that you can give a person a fish and they'll eat that day or teach them how to fish and they'll eat the rest of their life so one of the things that we've been doing is having our adult and community ed um department or the school to come out and hand out flyers um Monique at our last second harvest the driver came with flyers for career source we have different people come um at the we have a second harvest schedule for March the 27th at lively technical college we're going to have members of the early learning coalition and also Leon County schools early learning coming out and handing out literacy information and so any time that you get an opportunity to get people together finding out what are their needs what can we do to help meet the meet those needs um because you have to look at the entire needs of the family so Leon County school fits right into that we're partners with so many people in the community and they're partners with us so this is right on target and it sounds I hate to say it's a throwback but very similar to the concept when all schools were community schools that when the last bell rang and the kids either walked home or got on the bus and left the campuses were not locked and the teachers and administrators all fled people hung out for hours there were after school activities there were all kinds of parents would come in there would be that would be the community center for a neighborhood that sounds like what you're talking about kinda pretty much so and even having our monthly uh mobile food pantries at lively technical college to get people there so that they can see okay maybe I'm unemployed right now but let me pivot get some more skills and move forward but yes we want to be able to provide services to the entire community um we've also during a mobile food pantry we had bond community center they were there during um are completing cove testing and so yet you have to involve everyone you have to let people know that Leon County schools we're here we're part of the community we welcome you in we want to be a part of the solution yesDr.

Temple Robinson boy she is a spark plug too she's out there all the time getting involved with all these sorts of things well James Howcroft when you got involved in the nutritional aspect of the entire school district uh it sounds like you quickly found out it's a lot more than just making sure that you have some menus in the various schools that are compatible with student tastes and the resources you have on the financial side to provide that food your job has really increased dramatically too hasn't it a lot of moving parts in the nutrition services program uh but it takes a lot of a lot of great people I need to be sure and compliment all my capturing managers have been working in the field many of them since last spring and uh just a great support staff too to put it all together it's a lot of moving parts but to go to what Monique was talking about a little bit is you do need to go to where the people are that is really important and the other thing we found is we talked to uh parents to come to pick up meals they were very uh open to suggest an easier way or a better way to do things originally with the digital academy meals we did them one day or one day a week excuse me five days a week then we went to two days a week and then we realized that one day a week to pick everything up worked out a lot better but you have to be very creative right now we're working on our menus for next school year we're also working on our summer program that we'll start up here in you know less than three three and a half months so uh and we'll be ready to do that all summer long again so there's uh there's lots going on and uh every day is an exciting day nutrition services wow and it sounds like it may have also modified the way that you you approach the the menu building I recall at one point not too long ago when gosh you might as well give the kids what they want whether it's you know totally nutritious or not because otherwise they're just going to throw it away or avoid it they're not going to eat it but now you're producing food in many instances for families on an ongoing basis and those meals have to be more nutritious and and flavorful and enjoyable at the same time how do you do that juggling act well we had to juggle a little bit this year because we practiced social distancing and also having meals that could be picked up and to go we basically served bag meals throughout the fall and in January we started heating some meals and offering some different sandwiches and as we go into next year we're going to go back to a hot menu so we'll be serving hot meals in the schools but it has been it's changing all the time so it's constantly changing and you have to work with your uh with your staff to be sure that you can take care of this needs okay principal Anderson over at WT Moore talk about what an average day is like as far as again balancing that juggling act that you have to do the academic side of the equation yes we've kind of pulled back on uh standardized testing for a while but that's going to be coming back again and still for you to be a community resource particularly in this aspect of being a source of nutritious meals for entire neighborhoods that kind of changes your uh your mission statement a little bit too doesn't it it does but I think that um what great teachers what great administrators all educators great educators do is we love our children first and so we have to take care of the whole child and so we can't have kids coming to school and expect them to um be on you know firing on all cylinders academically if their little bellies are empty and so it's our responsibility to take care of those needs and in that hierarchy we have to make sure that they're safe we have to make sure that they are well fed and well taken care of and by extension their families and so it really is a part of the job it's a part of the job to know how many of these kids are coming every day and perhaps didn't have a hot meal last night let's make sure they get um a good breakfast this morning let's contact those families to see hey we have this awesome food pantry that is being sponsored by a full summer um and we're working with second harvest and we want to know can we send home a backpack with your child on Friday afternoon to make sure that um needs are being met through the course of the weekend and so you can't it's very difficult to pull apart all of the parts and pieces that are rolled into what a school's responsibility is um but I feel like I capture it best by just saying we have to love and take care of our children and um that extends to making sure that they have good nutritious food to eat when they're on our campus and when they're in their homes as well frontline on this entire battle has got to be the teachers because if they are not perceptive if they are not sensitive to those little indicators from the kids that there is a problem and those little tummies may not be anywhere near full they have to kind of hit the alarm bells and make sure that those children are fed or they're not going to be able to learn and and they do they they pay attention um they spend their own money um to purchase snacks and and to go out and buy new clothes and all these things that that children sometimes need and it's not always the families or the children that you expect you know um the face of food insecurity I think has um changed a lot during the course of this pandemic or what people would actually expect a family that is food insecure to look like we've had many families who traditionally have been stable who lost employment during the course of the pandemic and they need to feel comfortable that they can come to our school they can come to us and say hey this is a need that we have can you help us and our answer is yes we've had so many community organizations to wrap their arms around us we've had food drives sponsored by Westminster Oaks our neighbors right across the street um the pilot club of Tallahassee they've done so many donations donating peanut butter and jelly all kinds of snacks for our food pantry um we have these two ladies who I have to shout out Miss Daisy Broome and Kathy Henderson who manage our food pantry um and they do a lot of this on their own time after hours when you know they should be concerned about themselves and their families but they realize the need that we have going on here and so they stay after hours and make sure that those backpacks are packed um unfortunately because of the pandemic we can't have the families come in and shop in our pantry um which is the model that we initially thought we wanted to go with so now we've kind of turned it into more of a backpack program but they are working so super hard to make sure that any child who has a need for for food additional food for those families in their homes they're getting what they need through the hard work of these wonderful organizations and those ladies right here at our school so we have to love our kids first before we can expect them to learn and so that's what we do thank you ma'am you're listening to an update on food insecurity in our area with a very special panel today on perspectives Monique Van Pelt from second harvest to the Big BendDr.

Michelle Gayle assistant superintendent of Leon County schools we just heard from principal Kerri Anderson over at WT Moore Elementary School and James Howcroft with the Leon County schools nutritional services department has joined us too and if you miss any or all of a perspectives we keep them available online on our WFSU.org website we try to have the most recent program up just as soon as we can after it actually airs on the radio so you can hear the program again whenever you want Monique Van Pelt let's talk about an ongoing challenge for you guys at second harvest of the Big Bend as well as other food distribution organizations all over the country you only got a limited number of supply chains for this stuff and now everybody is out trying to obtain through those chains the food that is necessary to meet the needs of the community and a little personal side my daughter works for a company that provisions a number of convenience store chains in the southeast and when something becomes rare well it's like say Clorox disinfecting wipes everything just collapses and you have all of those stores screaming when are you going to get these things for us to say hey they're unobtainable uh you are in competition with all the other food banks across the country how are you guys getting supplies right now oh so luckily we have full-time staff who um source food for us but like you said when there's no food there's no food to source so what we have found is some challenges with uh food availability and then also like what food is available there's definitely a cost difference um today versus last year the the same types of food we're used to being able to purchase at a certain dollar per pound um that has changed um across a variety of the types of food that we're typically trying to make sure are available and here at the food bank um luckily for us um and because of the the amazing partnerships that we have um at the school level and with our superintendent um across the entire district is confidence in our ability to move food to children so much confidence this is the first year that we've actually been able to provide backpack product for every single child doing the whole school prior to this year on the backpack program and other programs like that it was just for the children who qualified who the teacher recognized got permission from families but this year because ofDr.

Gayle's work because of principal Anderson and all of her counterparts across our community we every single child in the school receives a backpack and it was an effort of like a an internal and then through through all of our all of our partnerships how can we remove guilt um from a parent and shame from children so that they aren't seen as the poor child or the the child or the parent who can't meet the need of their child how can we remove that shame so that we could get this charitable food into the hands and tummies of those children and I think that it was it's the our our principles working with their guidance counselors working with their their teachers um and their assistants to make sure that we communicate to every parent that we interact with and to every child that this moment in time uh the chance that you might be and i've you know principal Anderson I appreciate you mentioning this parents today might be in need for the first time in their life for public assistance and this is the first time ever and it is not a mark against you it is not a a character flaw this is completely out of your control and systems and processes and programs like this are here to to serve that and to serve you and not to judge you and I think that it's been the partnership across the board that has helped us to overcome shame and get the food to where it needs to go um and and thankfully we've been able to purchase food in bulk knowing full well that we have avenues to push that food to the children who need it and if it wasn't for the women that you see on this this call for James and and your review of the product that we're pushing um we wouldn't have the success that Leon County is seeing it is absolutely remarkable what's happened both in our the expansion of our backpack program how deeply embedded it is and all of the schools that we're currently serving and then the amazing expansion in our and our pantry program this year bringing on six new pantries at schools that never before have seen them Laurie Messer and her team with a full summer they made our community made miracles happen this year it's just beautiful I want to revisit that issue here in just a second with the the folks that you just called on Monique but all of this costs money and partnerships are wonderful and they can make miracles happen but if you can't afford the food it's not going to be there what kind of a strain additionally does this put second harvest of the Big Bend on when you're in a situation where a lot of non-profits right now are hurting there's just not enough money to go around how are you guys making it well um thankfully we have a really healthy um donor base and a strong strong community support we have absolutely enhanced the number of times we've reached out to our our donors and to the community to make sure that we inform and educate and invite people to participate in the um the response that we're trying to have locally uh a lot of like even the model in which we try to engage the community has had to change entirely Tom you mentioned the food shortage what we don't want is people in the community rushing out to their grocer and buying more than what their family needs because we know that's going to move food off the shelf for the next family that might walk in and also it puts a family in a position where they're buying that product at a price point where I can absolutely buy it cheaper so we've encouraged our donors to move away from shopping on our behalf and rather giving directly to us so that second harvest has the ability to buy and bulk um that also gives us the opportunity to like shift as we need to throughout the month throughout the quarter to source and cure food that create a more balanced array of food that we have available for our partner agencies and our network and what I mean by that is that essentially when you walk into our warehouse imagine that is our cupboard or our pantry and if you open our cooler or our freezer that's like your refrigerator and freezer and second harvest wants to be sure that we have dairy products and we have vegetables and we have fruit and we have protein and we ensure that we have a nice balance when we have the funds available to supplement what hasn't come in as donated product from our distribution centers or from the federal government so purchasing power and the ability to maneuver each month is essential to make sure that nutritious food is getting out to the community and if you've never visited the headquarters of second harvest to the Big Bend out there by the airport you will find coolers that are as big as a house literally it is absolutely phenomenal the amount of product that that organization handles there uh the superintendent Gayle uh Michelle just brought up something really or Monique just brought up something really interesting as far as the uh the attitude of parents a lot of families have spent an entire multi-generational thrust trying to overcome privation and poverty and to become independent and not have to go to anyone for charity that is that is now something they have achieved and suddenly they find themselves in a situation where they kind of have to backpedal on that how difficult is it to get to those folks and say hey this as you said is not your fault this is a problem that we have across the board and we are happy to help you that's an excellent question so when we have the mobile food pantry drives and I know at the schools with principals um like Kerri Anderson um we always thank parents for you know coming to us during the mobile food pantry drives that we had drive-throughs and such a lot of people came and they were crying they were ashamed and it's like no thank you for coming you know because you're coming I'm here I'm able to do this this is something that's happening not just with our community but with our nation and with the world and letting them know it's okay this is only temporary and this is our turn to help you um and so assuring them that it's it's not their fault you know and we're here to help each other in the community that's the big message that we send okay and I imagine uh principal Anderson when it comes to those parents too it's it's sometimes a matter I i imagine the parents may be happy but what about the kids for some of these kids if they're not you know wearing the right brain to close they get really really upset and and here to have to say well hey you know yeah i'll take that backpack of food home that's that's fine i'll do that is is that an issue sometimes it has not been um you know thankfully here at the elementary level we try very hard to make the backpacks that we send home with our kids just kind of fade into everything else that they're carrying so there is no big huge sticker on it that says weekend food it's just another backpack that they're taking home um and if it's if it's heavier sometimes we help them get it in their car but we don't discuss it with their peers it's not a discussion anything like that there is no shame involved um I think when you put in the work um and you front load relationships with your families you take the time to get to know your families you take the time to understand their needs and open have open communication with them when there's a situation like this they trust you already so they already know hey when I come to this school here's a soft place to fall I know that our extended family at WT Moore is going to want to do everything that they can to help us and so we don't broadcast it we we try to be as respectful as possible of all of our families regardless of their needs and and we do everything we can to help that's within our power to make sure all of our kids are safe healthy and happy right here at school absolutely no judgment that's the big thing none whatsoever none whatsoever it could be any of us at any moment um you know I'm grateful that throughout this pandemic my husband and I have continued to work um that's a blessing um so our family has not had to have some of the same needs of some other families but who knows what Tomorrow could bring it could be me it could be my child needing a backpack and I would hope that I would find someone who would um you know place no judgment on me or my family or this situation but just say here how can I help and so we try to operate in that manner so that our families feel nothing but love and support coming from us and there is absolutely no judgment James Howcroft I think he wanted to jump in there what uh what did you want to answer just getting to know your students and your parents and working with them children and students should never have any kind of shame all students should be able to get a meal and uh feel safe and and uh and loved at school I mean they go to school for the education they go to school uh for the the time in their life and uh you know looking at our schools now especially our elementary schools there's there's a lot of laughter and there's a lot of people that are are really happy to be together and and they're making a lot of good sounds so um you know for parents this is tough because it's the first time they've ever had to go and pick up food uh they're they're many of their children have had to do this in the past and go through uh the the serving lines at school where um some school systems they do shame the kids they get uh free meals and that's not the way we we just everyone's treated the same and I'm very proud of what we do well I will always and forever recall a certain a teacher of my acquaintance back in elementary school who would always stand guard at the trash can in the cafeteria and if there was more than a smidgen of food remaining on that plate she would make us go back to the table and finish it because she had no problem shaming us at all so this is a good meal and for many kids this may be the only good meal that they get today you get back to their cheering when you finish and boy we did we just hurry on back we we could never get away with anything from her folks so we're uh probably within about five minutes away from the conclusion of this edition of perspectives you have all brought just so much literally to the table today in talking about the the issue and some of the uh hopeful signs that we have that food in equality and insecurity is being handled on our area I want to give everyone an opportunity a couple minutes to kind of summate and and finish up any last thoughts that you may have that we can include in the program and let's start with you Monique Van Pelt with second harvest of of the big bad um i'll just conclude by saying the the success that we're seeing in Leon County in service to the children who are of families who are food insecure would not have been possible if it wasn't for the buy-in um from principals buy-in from our superintendent and our entire administrative team with the school district if there was not buy-in from every single teacher if there was not buy-in from every single bus driver I mean it's the entire school system recognizing and valuing what the child needs and looking at the holistic way that we can support a um the youth in our community and I it's commendable um the successes that we've seen here locally uh and I couldn't I i couldn't hand the the proverbial microphone back without saying Laurie Messer and her team and the fundraising that they are doing around a whole summer to ensure that not only you know the backpack program that is administered by teachers but also the food pantry program that's provided at our high schools and at our middle schools for and some of our elementary schools to make sure that the family is supported if we're not if we're not putting the resource out there then our families are having to spend scarce resources both time and finance and having to make really tough decisions um and when there's opportunity for us to bring a resource to where the need is I'm just grateful that we have partners with open arms open hearts ready to embrace that opportunity and put it into action and that's who's on this call and my hat my heart just goes out to everybody that's here that's made this possible for children thanks so much Monique assistant superintendent of Leon County schoolsDr.

Michelle Gayle your turn as as I close first of all thank you so much for this opportunity um principal Anderson said it we we we love on our kids Superintendent Hanna and our school board they have the heart of um taking care of our students um when you take care of the students you also have to look holistically at the family and not just feeding them forth that day that proverbial um saying but teaching them how to feed themselves um for a lifetime so we're very thankful for all of the partners that we have a full summer has been incredible in our district and because of them we have food pantries second harvest calling the superintendent um the week of the pandemic when schools have to close to find out what can we do to help all of our administrators they are the the mvps because they have worked countless hours tireless hours without saying hey we can't do this no they're always we can do it and let's figure out how in our community just embracing Leon County schools the challenges that we've had uh during the pandemic before and hopefully you know within a year or so we can say post um it takes an entire village um and and I'm just so happy that so many people are part of our village in helping us to end eradicate hunger in our community thank youDr.

Gayle nutritional services with Leon County schools headed up by James Howcroft sir it's all yours I just think it's really important that we all keep talking and keep communicating and working together so we can continue to come up with solutions to feed both our students and our parents very good sir and we end the discussion with the principal of WT Moore Elementary School, Kerri Anderson yes ma'am absolutely um I want to thank a full summer they've already let us know that they will be able to fund our pantry for next year um we look forward to the days when we can open the doors of the school and have our families come in and shop our pantry and continue to send backpacks home with our kids on the weekend but we have received so much support and for those who are wondering how you can help even though the district is not in a place where we're having volunteers come into the school yet you can still provide donations for the pantries that are around this district you can still reach out to the schools and say what needs do you have because we want to partner with you to help um we certainly can't do it by themselves we are standing on the shoulders of a full summer and second harvest and all these other organizations who are helping us to meet the needs of our children but it is important to me that all of your listeners know that we love our children we love our families and we want to do everything we possibly can to help um there is no shame we are all in this thing together and so um with that thank you all so much for having me and thank you for the support um that we are receiving throughout the district to serve our children and our families and reminder to everyone listening to this program no matter what kind of neighborhood you are driving through whether it is the most affluent one in town or one of more modest means there are hungry families and hungry kids in each and every one of them and if we can all keep that in mind and also keep in mind how we might be able to plug into these multiple partnerships and initiatives to help out even in a very very modest fashion it is all to the good many hands making light work as my mom used to say so to Monique Van Pelt James Howcroft Dr. Michelle Gayle and Kerri Anderson thank you all for being part of this very special edition of perspectives which is produced by WFSU Public Media in Tallahassee thanks going out to Taylor Cox, Paul Dam, Amy Diaz de Villegas, Brandon Brown, Trisha Moynihan and Lydell Rawls.

Our Director of Content Kim Kelling is our executive producer each and every week and I'm Tom Flanigan you know our seniors were first in line for COVID vaccinations and it seems for those to remain uninfected that they kind of weathered the pandemic surprisingly well still there are some challenges and we're going to have an all-star panel of experts to talk about those challenges next week right here on perspectives from WFSU Public Media thanks for joining us take care.