Seniors, students enjoying meals on wheels
Deanna Anderson
Cedar County News
HARTINGTON — Meals are being prepared even though school doors are closed to students and senior citizens are not able to gather at the Senior Citizen Center for a meal and a time of visiting.
The kitchen at Hartington-Newcastle Public School is a busy place. Carmen Jueden, certified food manager, along with the school’s food service staff prepare lunches for students and children in the Hartington-Newcastle school district.
On Thursday of last week, 529 lunches were prepared and packed into Styrofoam-to-go boxes and then delivered to the homes of students and children living in the Hartington-Newcastle school district. A driver from Newcastle picks up the lunches at the school in Hartington and makes deliveries to the homes of students and children in Newcastle.
Families can go on-line at the school site and view the menus. An order for lunches can be placed on-line or by phone, but needs to be completed by noon the day before the meal is to be delivered. State and federal funds are provided for the free meals.
Safety was the main concern when the decision was made to deliver meals to homes in the school district, according to Hartington-Newcastle Supt. A. J. Johnson.
“We thought delivering the meals was a better option. If the meals are picked up at school, there is not a good way for those involved to keep a safe distance from one another,” Johnson said.
Meals are free for ages 1-18 years. The routes are different than the usual bus routes, as additional stops are being made for deliveries. Bus drivers and paras are delivering the meals. All of the containers and coolers used in the delivery process are disinfected each day. Johnson expressed his appreciation for the people who donated coolers for the school to use. All of the guidelines for sanitizing and cleaning are followed.
“We are making more meals now than when school was open. It has been a challenge. The staff is doing a good job,” Johnson said. “We are happy to do this for our community. It is important in these uncertain times to help with the kids having food.”
The ovens are still getting hot at the Senior Citizen Center in Hartington. Meals are prepared Monday through Friday each week by Holly Kruse, along with help from board members, if needed. Meals can be picked-up at the senior center by individuals at noon or volunteers deliver the meals to homes of senior citizens.
On Thursday of last week, 36 meals were either picked-up or delivered to homes, according to Jess Wolf, volunteer manager of the Senior Citizen Center. Close contact is avoided when the meals are delivered. Volunteers leave the container with the meal by the door at the house. They ring the door bell, step back and wait until an individual comes to the door and takes the meal. Some residents come to the senior center to retrieve their packaged meal. Senior citizens also have the option of ordering frozen meals that can be picked-up and taken home.
“Seniors can set up a program to pick up several days or weeks of frozen meals that are all prepared at the senior center,” Wolf said.
Steps are taken to sanitize and clean all surfaces in the building several times each day. Workers at the center clean their hands numerous times.
Northeast Nebraska Area Agency on Ageing and the Nebraska Department of Health had made the recommendation to close the Senior Citizen Center to the public at the present time.
“People cannot eat meals here, have coffee or play cards,” Wolf said. “It is closed for everything.”
Wolf doesn’t expect the Hartington Senior Citizen Center to be open to the public until sometime in May or later.