BLOOMFIELD, IND. (WTHI) -- A meal a day can bring a little bit of normalcy to a student’s life during this time.
Bless Bloomfield is a group of volunteers working to keep students fed.
Volunteers are working to make sure students in the Bloomfield School District receive meals during spring break.
“We’re in this for the long haul. We don’t know how long it’s going to take for this situation to resolve, but we have committed that we’re going to feed the kids of the Bloomfield School District no matter how long it takes,” said Mike Toon, coordinator for Bless Bloomfield.
Terri Neighbors is one of the volunteers with Bless Bloomfield.
She contacted area restaurants to purchase meals to provide for students.
Neighbors says she didn’t expect the response they received.
“We told them that we would like to purchase meals, and they agreed. But what happened is that whenever we would get there for the day we were scheduled, they either were not charging us or they were giving us a huge discount,” Neighbors said.
Five area restaurants have stepped up to provide meals during spring break for students in the Bloomfield School District.
Wendee Francis and her husband own the Geeky Grub in downtown Bloomfield.
As a parent, she knows the challenge of keeping her family fed.
“The little community that we have is in need, and we have the ability to give back because they’ve given back to us on numerous occasions, so we jumped at the opportunity,” Francis said.
Volunteers are delivering meals to more than 150 students in the district every day.
“Really, it’s been a beautiful thing here in Bloomfield, the community rallying together and truly working together to support all kids and all of our families,” said Jeff Gibboney, superintendent of Bloomfield School District.
The meals are a form of comfort for many students.
“I’ve heard from several parents whose kids just look forward to it every day because it’s something normal. Especially when the school meals were coming, they were excited to get something that they were used to every day,” Neighbors described.
Bless Bloomfield has started a Go Fund Me page to raise money for this effort.
