Tift Co. Schools meal distribution for students affected by Hurricane Helene

TIFTON, Ga. – With a focus on nourishment and care, the Tift County School System is ensuring that no family goes without.

The Tift County School Nutrition Program, in collaboration with school staff and the local community, has come together to provide hot lunch and breakfast meals for students to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals amid the disruption of Hurricane Helene.

“It’s no secret that sometimes the meals that the kids get at school are some of the only meals that they get. So, they haven’t been in school since Thursday and they’ve gone throughout the weekend. So, we just wanted to make sure that our babies had multiple schools by passing out food, we have a few churches that we have taken food to. And, we’re just making sure that our kids are fed,” said Willie Dean, J.T. Reddick Elementary Principal.

With multiple locations participating in the initiative, it was a tremendous community-wide effort in Tifton, uniting people with a shared goal.

Principal Willie Dean of J.T. Reddick Elementary School discusses the efforts and coordination involved in organizing the initiative.

“So, our Superintendent Mrs. Natalie Gore got together with our food and nutrition department and decided that we need to make sure that we feed our community, make sure our children are fed. All of our principals, our assistant principals, our director, our assistant superintendent, our superintendent, all of our maintenance department, our school nutrition staff, they all came together. This morning, we got here at 7:00 -730. We start packing bags, getting boxes loaded up. So, everybody just came together as a huge community and just made this happen,” said Dean.

The Tift County School System remains dedicated to its top priority: the well-being and success of its students.

“Collaborate, learn, achieve is what we do here. So, you know, we came together and we’re just making sure that we’re giving all of our kids everything that they need so they can be successful. Because, you know, without the kids who won’t be here,” said Dean.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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