MCE food service receives $5,000 grant. 

March 2, 2021

Dana Kessel, director of MCE Food Service.

MCE food service receives $5,000 grant. 

CUSTER — Mason County Eastern Schools was recently was awarded a $5,000 grant to help support and enhance its school meal program to reach more students.

The grant comes from the Kellogg Company and No Kid Hungry program. The grant has been awarded to help offset additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dana Kessel, MCE food service director, said about 20% of the district’s students are attending school remotely. As a result, food service staff has had to increase communication to students and families about available meal offerings. The staff has also had to work longer hours, which requires additional funding.

The grant from Kellogg Company and No Kid Hungry helped the district purchase additional rolling carts and bins to transport food, and bags for weekly grab-and-go meals. Grant funds were also used to purchase an innovative packing tray that enables the staff to scale up the meals in a container to keep them hot or cold.

Mason County Eastern Schools is now able to serve seven days’ worth of meals to students, regardless if the students attend classes in person or remotely.

“The trays were the biggest purchase,” Kessel said. “Since we’ve had all of these items, we are reaching more students at breakfast. We’re also able to offer free meals to all community members under the age of 18, some of whom are homeschooling. We are very appreciative of the grant. It has truly helped us.”

“We are proud to partner with No Kid Hungry to continue our shared mission to help expand school meal programs, especially during this critical time,” said Jen Roth, general manager K-12, Kellogg’s Away From Home. “We recognize the tremendous efforts of the foodservice team at Mason County Eastern Schools who are working tirelessly to help get more meals to more children.”

Mason County Eastern Schools is one of ten schools or school districts across the country receiving $5,000 grants from Kellogg Company and No Kid Hungry to support its school meal programs.

“America’s kids need us,” said Diana Hovey, senior vice president of Corporate Partnerships at Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. “Traditionally, many kids have relied on the meals they get at school each day. But even as school staff and community leaders work to feed students while many school buildings are closed, children are missing the meals they need. We thank our dedicated partner Kellogg for making our critical work possible.”

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