“We are very thankful for the giving spirit of these two organizations,” said Superintendent Dr. Bob Hill. “It’s through valuable community partnerships like this that our students are able to thrive in and out of the classroom during a very trying time for families.”
The meal and sports bags were distributed Friday at the two schools, with city officials present including Mayor Warren Copeland, Assistant Mayor Joyce Chilton and two city commissioners.
“I think it’s fantastic. I really appreciate these folks who were trying to help people get food in these terrible times, so these kids will have some food to take home and they’ll have some sports equipment to take home,” Copeland said.
CHA partnered with The Lindy Infante Foundation to distribute the meal packs, which were funded by the Community Health Foundation, and the activity bags.
CHA, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to feeding children, distributed 550 holiday meal packs that contain three dinners and two breakfasts to send home with students to keep them fed during spring break.
“We want to make sure that kids have a nutritious meal to take home when they leave the school setting to get them through this extended break period,” said Jared Buerger, director of afterschool and summer nutrition at CHA.
Buerger said the dinner meals contain a meat or meat alternative, fruit, vegetable and a grain, and the breakfast meals contain a grain and a fruit or vegetable.
The Lindy Infante Foundation, a nonprofit that covers the cost of youth athletics, also supplied 550 “sports in a bag” to students that contain sports equipment, at-home drills and physical activities.
“One thing we believe at Children’s Hunger Alliance is not only that kids should have the ability to eat that nutritious meal, but we also believe in the ethics of physical education as well as nutrition. That’s why we partnered with The Lindy Infante Foundation that is providing these phenomenal, high quality sports in a bag materials,” Buerger said.
The Foundation was founded by Brad and Stephanie Infante in honor of Brad’s late father, Lindy Infante, former NFL head coach with the Packers and Colts who also served as offensive coordinator for the Browns and Bengals during a long career.. The “sport in a bag” program was launched during the pandemic when the foundation could no longer hold in-person sports camps.
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