A steady stream of cars, filled with kids who normally would be in a Gary classroom, motored through the south lot at the West Side Leadership Academy Thursday for a ham or turkey sandwich.
Superintendent Yvonne Stokes said the idea to provide lunches for students, who can’t be in school because of the ongoing power outage, harkened back to the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020.
Stokes served as assistant superintendent then at the School Town of Munster.
“We had to pivot and find ways to give food to the students,” she said.
“We need to feed our kids… I always say it takes you, me, and all of us, I really do mean that because we are a family,” she said.
Chartwells Food Service prepared the turkey and ham sandwiches along with apples and graham crackers, cheese, grape and orange juice.
Food service director Lisa Bishop said workers began preparing the food about 7 a.m. Tuesday. She said they made 425 lunches.
Monique and Kimus Williams and their children Soary, 1, and Makyah, 9, appreciated the effort.
Kimus said the family’s refrigerator food spoiled and they’ve been relying on food pantries.
“We have trees knocked down all over,” he said.
It’s been a boring week for Makyah, who’s in third grade at Banneker Elementary.
“I’ve been reading,” she said. “Christmas books.”
More Top Picks Best Green Light Lamps For Light Sensitivity
Ashlynn Richardson lives near Beveridge Elementary where her daughter Serenity, 10, attends fifth grade.
“A tree hit the power line to our house,” Richardson said. “It’s still there on the power lines.”
Serenity said she’s disappointed to miss school which just began Aug. 6.
“I don’t get to learn the whole day,” she said.
Her mom stayed upbeat. “We’re taking it day to day and trying to stay upbeat,” she said.
Parent Krista Godinez brought her three children, Kyle Cunningham, 10, Aden Cunningham, 12, and Nevaeh Jones, 8.
“We live on Van Buren in Glen Park. There are trees down and power lines uprooted,” she said.
Fortunately, her husband, Charles Jones, is a chef at Le Peep in Valparaiso.
“We have a propane grill and he’s been cooking,” she said.
Stokes said the schools are in pretty good shape after the storm although a tree outside administration offices at West Side crashed through a window and injured a worker who needed stitches.
School spokeswoman Chelsea Whittington said the school district was also in partnership with the city of Gary and the Gary YWCA to donate food stored in the freezers at schools to the YWCA.
The YWCA will cook the food and distribute it to the community.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.