One in six.
That’s how many children in Millard County face food insecurity.
Read it again. One in six. Or, to put it in different numbers, 16.7 percent, according to Utahns Against Hunger in 2021. Feeding America, however, shows that only 15.4 percent, or one in six and a half children in Millard County are unsure where their next meal come from.
Either way, they’re stark numbers to reconcile.
Food insecurity, strictly defined, is “a lack of available financial resources for food at a household level.” It all fluctuates from a myriad of reasons from mounting bills, job loss, health issues and other situational events, said Josie Sorenson, food scientist workin with local schools.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that 1 in 6 children have empty bellies, just that 1 in 6 children spend a good part of their time worrying about what they’re going to eat rather than just getting to be a kid,” Sorenson said. “And because these children and their families don’t necessarily have empty bellies often means that they’re not going to get help and use resources throughout the community.”
But there are those helping to ease a little bit of that burden.
Almost every single school in the Millard School District has a program to ensure hungry students leave each afternoon with something to eat.
Some are newly minted, starting this year, others have put down roots and helped feed students for a year or more.
Delta South Elementary, Delta Middle, and Delta High
Three of the Delta area schools started their food pantry programs this year, under the efforts of Cindy Gardner. The idea of having a program in Delta South Elementary wasn’t a novel idea; Gardner had discussed the notion with the school’s current principal years ago.
“I asked if there was some way to help get that started at the school,” Gardner said. “He said yes, help me get it stocked.”
So, she did. Then once it was on its feet, she went to Delta Middle and Delta High.
“I couldn’t face telling a child I couldn’t help them because they were at the wrong school,” Gardner said.
Now, Gardner and others together help provide additional meal support to 73 students between the three schools, but the numbers fluctuate weekly.
The pantry support is kept as anonymous and discrete as possible. The only individuals that know who gets what are Gardner, school administrators, and the students themselves. The discretion and anonymity is paramount to all helping with school pantries.
Sign up sheets are sent home with students at the beginning of the school year. Families are given the option to sign up and send it back. Or, parents can contact whichever school their child attends to ask to be part of the program.
“It has been nice to offer resources to families or a child that needs help,” Gardner said. “I don’t know them personally. I keep it anonymous for myself.” Donations can be taken directly to DSES, DMS and DHS. Monetary donations are also accepted.
Full lists of foods can be provided for each institution. Gardner focuses on providing the youngest of students easy, ready to eat options like granola bars, fruit cups, shelf stable milk and the like so students can open them themselves if needed.
“They are three to seven years old,” Gardner said. “They are tiny.”
Delta Middle Students are a step above; canned ravioli and soups, cereals, and other easily prepared meals are encouraged. Delta High accepts more complex donations, like stovetop macaroni and cheese.
Gardner may be hesitant to accept praise, but Sorenson sings them.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with her and I have been absolutely amazed by all that she puts in to make sure these kids not only get food, but that they get a variety of food, and food that they will like. She has turned this into a full-time position for the three schools that she helps with, all of which is volunteer work, to make sure these kids get food every single week. She puts in all the hard work to make this happen.”
Delta North Elementary School
The longest running food pantry in the Millard School District, Delta North’s has been dubbed “Bob’s Bags,” after the bulldog mascot.
“We were the first in the county to start,” Delta Bliss, DNES principal said. It got its roots after Cherie Morris, a Hinckley resident, originally approached the school to help provide food for students in tight spots.
It went from paying for outstanding lunch money to sending home food on the weekends, Bliss said. “That’s how the idea first clicked. (Morris) brought in the first donation, and it’s snowballed from there,” Bliss said.
The school then purchased food on top of another donation to get it further running.
Six years later, it’s still going strong. Currently, Bob’s Bags provides food for 35 DNES students alone; but like all the schools, those numbers can change any moment.
“We’ve never had that many until this year,” Bliss said. And now, with a long holiday break approaching, the school and its program administrators are prepping to send extra amounts home. “It goes out pretty quickly,” Bliss said. “We try to send a protein, vegetable and fruit. Something they can prepare easily. We accept everything; we’re grateful for what we get.”
All donations, food and monetary, can be taken directly to DNES. The school will be conducting an in-house food drive to gather donations for its own shelves, as well as those of Central Utah Food Sharing, the local food bank. “
The whole thing has taught me that this is a wonderful community,” Bliss said. “I’ve known that, but it has truly brought it home; people do care about the little ones. It’s hard to believe it goes on, but it does.”
Fillmore Elementary and Fillmore Middle
Some of the more newly established programs are housed in the Fillmore area schools.
Fillmore Elementary’s, Chip’s Snack Packs, currently feeds the most students per school at 50 students.
FES is also the third-largest school per student body in the district, said Sheila Sheriff, FES principal. Chip’s Snack Packs is a rebrand of sorts of the school’s previous program, Chip’s Cupboard. It recently took its new shape this year.
“We started Chip’s Cupboard to provide food for kids on the weekend, where families could come in and pick out what they needed,” Sheriff said. But after noticing there was still plentiful food, but not a change in numbers, the change took place.
Now, it follows suit with the other programs in the district; sign-ups were sent home. Parents could opt in or out. Anonymity is upheld and sacrosanct.
Donations can be taken to FES, or, interested parties can use an Amazon link provided by the school to have food shipped directly without leaving the comfort of home. The link can be found on the school’s Facebook page.
Fillmore Middle’s Mustang Meals was started in 2021, and is overseen by Valyn Pace, a social worker with Millard School District. Pace works with the Fillmore area schools.
Currently, Mustang Meals helps feed 25 kids, but, again; those numbers are always subject to change. “
We send them home with easy to make stuff, like ravioli, or cups of Mac and cheese,” Pace said of donations.
Donations can be taken directly to FMS. A full list of foods for all schools can be obtained by contacting them directly.
