Beech Tree News Network

A mobile route has been traveling to various locations throughout Butler County this summer to provide meals to children.

As part of Butler County’s Summer Feeding Program, a new way of distributing lunches has been developed to allow children ages 2-18 to receive food at convenient stops in multiple areas of the county.

The Bears Lunchbox Express is a bus that stops at various parks, neighborhoods, and churches in Butler County to give pre-prepared lunches to area children. Children have the option to take the lunch to go or sit on the bus and eat.

School Nutrition Director Kaitlin Harrison said that while the summer feeding program has existed for over 15 years in the county, lunches were previously offered in a ‘take and go’ form out of Morgantown Elementary School. She and the school board wanted to develop a new way to distribute food to the community and provide a larger reach. 

Mobile routes have become increasingly popular in many surrounding areas in the recent years. Although Butler County is smaller, Harrison said she still felt that there was need for it and wanted to give it a try since they had the opportunity to do so.

Harrison said they have received great help and support from the community to get the project started. A bus was donated from the school district and refurbishments were made to the interior and exterior of the bus by Final Finish Automotive Shop. Harrison said she receives assistance from many ladies working in the kitchens of the schools that help in passing out lunches and driving the bus as well as a few high school students that work on the bus as a summer job.

The bus serves as a more convenient way to provide meals to children in all areas of the county that may not otherwise be able to come to a certain location to get them. Harrison said they have been serving an average of around 200 meals a day and around 1,000 a week.

“I wanted it to be summer meals for anybody and everybody, not just meals for those in the more central area,” Harrison said.

She also said it serves as a tool to fill in the hunger gap that exists in the county. Harrison explained that while they are confident that children are being fed during months of the school year, they do not know what goes on during the summer.

“Those other two months we don’t know who is getting food and who isn’t,” she said.

Harrison said they plan to continue the mobile routes next summer and would even like to possibly offer a second route to expand their range and shorten times.

Lunches provided from the program include a sandwich of sorts or even hotdogs, as well as a fruit, vegetable and milk or juice and other items on given days. Harrison said that many times, the fruits and vegetables are from local farmers.

She spoke about the Kentucky Vegetable Incentive Program (KVIP) Grant that the school board received. Harrison said it allows them to receive fifty cents back on every one dollar spent on local produce. Harrison said they want to support local every chance they get and the grant gives them the extra incentive to do so.

The Bears Lunchbox Express runs Monday through Friday until July 19. The bus will not be running on the week of July 4. Meals are also available at Morgantown Elementary School with breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Stops are made at the following locations:

Rochester Park - 10:20 a.m.

Richland Church - 11:10 a.m.

Morgantown City Park - 11:40 a.m.

Huff Ingram - 12:10 p.m.

Kent Manor - 12:40 p.m.

Good News Center - 1:15 p.m.

Temple Hill Church - 1:45 p.m.