“I am very proud of our local school district, Hardin County Schools in Kentucky. They are truly demonstrating living their values of care and compassion by expanding their meal service support to our elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems. Individuals or families add the name of our community members in need to a list for meals and delivery. The child nutrition staff at a designated school in the district makes the meals. A community nonprofit organization has raised over $17,000 to pay for the individual meals and community volunteers deliver the meals. It is truly a community effort with the heart beat orchestrated by our school district. I am proud to be a member of this community and especially proud to be a retired educator from Hardin County Schools.” – Nannette Johnston, Studer Education Leader Coach
Hardin County Schools is now accepting community donations via Give 270 to continue preparing and delivering food to the elderly during the COVID-19 crisis. Within hours of the April 1 announcement on social media, supporters had given more than $1,000 for meal distribution.
HCS has continued its lunch program for students while schools are closed for the COVID-19 pandemic. With a process for food delivery in place, the school system began offering the meal service to senior citizens as well to help them stay healthy at home. Adults over 60 are most at risk for developing serious coronavirus symptoms. According to USDA guidelines, however, HCS must receive $3 per lunch given to anyone other than a student over the age of 18.
“At this time, we are doing a great job feeding students that need food. Additionally, we have served or delivered 1,400 meals to the elderly in the past three weeks,” said John Wright, director of community relations for HCS. “We have to make some modifications as we move forward and pay for the service through community donations or those who can afford to pay for their own meals. We are excited to see the community step up in such a big way and are thankful for everyone’s support.”
Give 270 focuses on venture philanthropy projects benefiting communities in Hardin, LaRue and Meade County Kentucky. All donations are 100 percent tax-deductible.
“When we launched Give 270, the goal was to create an agile and flexible non-profit for projects exactly like this one to help Hardin County Schools,” said Kenny Rambo, founder of Give 270. “It’s great to see the community coming together to help seniors and those with compromised immune systems – the very people who must remain quarantined or isolated during this COVID-19 pandemic.”
Hardin County Schools and Give270 have teamed up to help raise funds and volunteers to feed Senior Citizens in need in the Heartland. Learn how you can help make a difference in this video blog.
John Wright with Hardin County Schools, Kenny Rambo from Give270 and Marty Gaddie from Veterans United Home Loans Fort Knox join Community Storyteller Greg Milby to share a special donation from the Veterans United Foundation.
