Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
HAVERHILL, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Haverhill Public Schools is using extra federal funds to give food back to the community.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Haverhill received federal grants to pay for free meals for the students. Each meal comes with a few extra cents to be spent on food infrastructure or service. As the need for meals increased, so did the grant money, meaning that lots of funds were left over.
Superintendent Dr. Margaret Marotta had an idea on where these funds could go that could benefit the community. Her idea was to spend this surplus on a food truck.
“We can use it as a mobile food pantry,” Marotta said.
She explained that the truck would be used to deliver food to those in need part of the time.
Read More: As Allston Christmas Approaches, Boston Finds New Way To Clear The Clutter
According to the superintendent, the idea is that kids who need these meals can receive them without having to travel to get the food.
“Being able to bring the food to where the kids are, rather than expecting the kids to come to the food seemed like a great idea,” Marotta said. “It's just so important to set that base for everyone that they have enough food that their bellies are full so they can worry about other things.”
Another use for the truck would be to allow the district’s culinary program to cook and sell food from the truck, giving these students real life experiences to learn from.
“We wanted the kids who already grow the food and prepare the meals to have an opportunity to sell those meals to the community,” she said.
The Haverhill School Committee approved the superintendent’s proposal, allowing her to begin the search for this food truck. The estimated cost of the struck is between $100,000 and $200,000.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.