The West Bend-Mallard School District food service had just received a truckload of food for students when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic closed Iowa schools. Sherry Schany, West Bend Mallard School District food service director, had to do something with the food, so she opened the Pop-Up Food Pantry in the school cafeteria for people within a 15-mile radius. School personnel will also deliver food to those in that 15-mile radius.
“I had food set out that we were going to use,” Schany said. “We let parents come through and pick out what they could use.” Superintendent Amanda Schmidt said Schany organized this food pantry to help out the community during COVID-19. “We did not qualify to provide meals right away to our students due to our low free/reduced percentage,” she said. “We wanted to be able to provide food to the people who needed it during this trying time.”
Read more about it in the April 23 Kossuth County Advance.