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Food Lion, Ingles partner with Polk County Schools

Donations from two area grocery stores have helped Polk County Schools serve almost 75,000 meals to area children since the closing of schools due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Since schools closed on March 16, Polk County Schools’ Child Nutrition Staff has served meals daily to children in Polk County. Once staff members prepare the meals, a group of Polk County Schools employees distribute the food during drive-through pickup events at the elementary schools or through a limited number of home deliveries.

Food Lion in Columbus recently made a donation to support the food distribution program. Customer service and sales manager Brittany Seay arranged the donation of more than 300 snack-sized bags of chips and two cases of plastic bags to the school lunch effort.

“Brittany understands the need in our community and wanted Food Lion to do its part to help the children and parents in Polk County,” said Polk County Schools Technology / Accountability Director Dave Scherping. “Polk County Schools is proud to partner with Food Lion in supporting our children.”

This is the second donation from Food Lion. The previous donation included more bags and the loan of two bagging stations.

Ingles Markets has also been a continued partner in the work to feed the children of Polk County. Every few weeks, the Landrum location has donated bags used to distribute the daily meals. Polk County Schools is distributing more than 700 meals a day, creating a need for almost 4,000 bags a week.

“Polk County Schools has been amazed by the willingness of individuals, clubs, churches and businesses to support our feeding program,” Scherping said. “The generosity of these groups has helped Polk County Schools feed the children in our community. These donations show the extraordinary lengths our community will go to support our children.”

Submitted by Polkstudents.com