A Healthy Appetite For Helping Others
Jessamy Brown, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
CARROLL SCHOOL DISTRICT SOUTHLAKE -- Untouched milk donated by Carroll school district students from their lunches flew off the shelves in a spring pilot program, prompting the addition of a third campus and interest from other school districts.
Parent Marlene Eldred launched the Little Hands Big Hearts program because she said she was concerned that some students were throwing away uneaten food and unopened bottles of milk.
Nobody was sure whether there was a need for the unused food or whether the logistics to deliver it elsewhere would work.
But during the spring test, children at Rockenbaugh and Old Union elementary schools donated thousands of bottles of milk that Tarrant County area youth agencies welcomed, said Andrea Helms, Tarrant County Food Bank spokeswoman.
Students at Carroll Elementary School will join the program when school starts next month.
The program
Milk is provided as part of the school plate lunch and is sold by the bottle. In April, students began donating unopened milk and untouched cafeteria food in a six-week test.
A Tarrant Area Food Bank truck picks up the food twice a week and makes it available to relief agencies such as food pantries and senior centers.
Students and parent volunteers put apples, fruit cups, bags of chips and carrots in donated refrigerators.
Old Union students donated 325 to 350 bottles per week, a total of nearly 2,000, Eldred said.
Helping others
Area relief agencies are snapping up the food and often serving it the same day, Helms said.
That helped allay questions that milk might spoil if there was no demand for it, Eldred said.
Youth programs such as the Boys and Girls Clubs serve the milk for after-school snacks.
"I feel so blessed that the community has responded the way they have and food is going to where it needs to be. It is a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket," Eldred said.
What's next
Eldred recently pitched the idea to several area school district superintendents.
Grapevine-Colleyville district administrators are studying the program, spokeswoman Megan Overman said.
"We think it is a positive thing. We are considering piloting it at a campus or two," Overman said.
Carroll students are encouraged to drink their milk, said Mary Brunig, director of Carroll's child nutrition services department.
Many students continue to choose milk for their meals. The district sold 450,000 bottles last year.
Brunig is working with Dairy Max, a nonprofit organization that promotes dairy products as an important part of a healthful lunch.
Online: www.southlakecarroll.edu
www.dairymax.org Carroll food donations
In a pilot program, Carroll school district students at two campuses donated:
15,078 pounds of milk
331 pounds of fruits and vegetables
320 bags of chips and other dry foods
Tuesday, July. 22, 2008
Sources: Tarrant Area Food Bank, Carroll school district
Section: Metro
Edition: Main
Page: B03
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