Photo courtesy of Evans County Schools
By Kimberly Della Donna
UGA Extension 4-H Agent, Stephanie Myers, greeted Evans County families last Wednesday with a plethora of pandemic essentials, including big smiles, fresh food and home gardening materials. Students and their families were delighted to receive the seeds and activities during the 8th week of school closures in the area. "The timing and weather proved perfect for promoting all of the physical, mental, social, and nutritional aspects of family gardening," said Myers, who joined a group of volunteers to help Evans County School Nutrition Director Tonya Beasley-Blocker, and her School Nutrition Staff, distribute meals to over 1,000 residents in the Evans County. Each Wednesday, the staff and volunteers distribute 7 breakfasts and 7 lunches- that is over 14,000 meals dispersed each week in one day!
Georgia Organics partnered with The UGA Extension Service to create the educational resources and share the seeds, donated by the Captain Planet Foundation after learning about Evans County’s School Nutrition Director, Tonya Beasley Blocker's efforts to promote agricultural learning and the district’s efforts to include local food in the meal distribution program. When Georgia Organics Farm to School Director Kimberly Della Donna first reached Beasley-Blocker she was arranging to include a quart of strawberries from RJ&G Farms in each family’s weekly meal pack. She's been working to include locally grown produce in the offerings each week.
Tonya Beasley-Blocker is just one of the many Georgia school nutrition professionals on the front line of serving the community during the pandemic. We're especially impressed that during this time of crisis and rapid change, our school nutrition professionals are going the extra mile to source local, fresh food and include educational resources for students and families. We offer our sincere gratitude to our school nutrition heroes like Tonya Beasley-Blocker and our community volunteers like Stephanie Meyers who support their efforts.
Kimberly Della Donna is the Farm to School Director for Georgia Organics. She can be contacted by email at kimberly@georgiaorganics.org.