For six weeks this summer, hundreds of brown paper bags lined tables and hallways at Polk County High School, each one part of a week’s worth of food headed home with a Polk County child.
Inside each package were seven breakfasts, seven lunches and a gallon of milk. Fresh produce from Charlene’s Garden, a local farm in Sunny View, was added through grant funding. Volunteers packed the bags, student-athletes and coaches helped move them and Child Nutrition employees coordinated the operation week after week.
By the final distribution in July, Polk County Schools had handed out 2,486 of those weekly packages – 34,804 individual breakfasts and lunches.
And that was only part of the district’s summer meal effort.
Across take-home distributions and meal sites throughout the county, Polk County Schools served 41,002 breakfasts and lunches while students were out of school.
For Child Nutrition Director Jennifer Peeler, those numbers reflect a need that extends well beyond families traditionally considered low income.
“Unfortunately, our program is successful only because there is such a need in our community,” Peeler said. “It’s difficult for everyone, not just our lower income families. It’s hard on middle income families with one income and three or four children home for the summer.”
Polk County Schools has participated in the Summer Food Service Program since 2019. When schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Peeler said the department was feeding children within three days.
The experience helped staff refine a distribution system that now requires days of preparation for each weekly give-out. Menus must meet specific meal-pattern requirements, food is purchased in bulk when possible and the district tries to include fresh fruits and vegetables in its offerings.
Once the food arrives, another large job begins.
“On Wednesdays and Thursdays we have staff members and community volunteers who spend 4 hours each day to make sure the bags are packed according to the menu for that week,” Peeler said. “Dry bags are usually packed on the first day and cold and frozen bags are packed on the second day. It’s a daunting task when you have to pack 400 of each type of bag.”
The six-week take-home program served Polk County children from birth through age 18, with distributions held three times in June and three times in July.
It was only one part of the summer nutrition effort.
Meal service was also offered at Polk Central Elementary, Saluda Elementary, Tryon Elementary, Steps to Hope, Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) and the YMCA. Those locations combined to serve another 6,198 breakfasts and lunches, along with 691 snacks.
Making all of that work required help well beyond the Child Nutrition staff.
Volunteers from Tryon First Baptist Church spent Wednesdays packing meal bags. Polk County High School football, cheerleading, tennis and soccer athletes and coaches also helped, joining school employees, family members and other community volunteers.
Peeler said that assistance has a direct impact on what the department can provide.
“Our volunteers, student organizations and community partners are extremely important to our program,” she said.
Unlike many other departments within a school system, Child Nutrition largely operates from the federal reimbursements it receives for meals served, along with supplemental revenue such as extra food sales and catering, Peeler said. Polk County Schools participates in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which allows all students to receive breakfast and lunch at no charge during the school year.
The summer program also generates federal reimbursement while allowing Child Nutrition employees to continue working during part of the summer.
“By utilizing volunteers, student organizations and community partners we can use more of those federal reimbursement dollars to purchase a higher quality of local foods,” Peeler said.
Among those helping this summer was Eric McIntyre, husband of Child Nutrition staff member Tammy McIntyre, who volunteered every week and assisted behind the scenes from preparation through distribution. Central Office employees also helped at every give-out.
The district’s overall summer meal count remained remarkably close to the previous year. Polk County Schools served 41,239 breakfasts and lunches in 2025 compared with 41,002 this summer, a difference of just 237 meals.
That came despite holding one fewer take-home distribution in 2026.
“We could have surpassed last year’s total but it would have been at the cost of our employees,” Peeler said. “They needed a break and we needed time to switch from our Summer Food Service Program to our National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.”
What Peeler remembers most about the summer, though, is not the difference of 237 meals.
“2026 was very memorable because of the community and student involvement as well as seeing our Central Office employees come to our aid for the second year in a row,” she said.
Church volunteers, Peeler said, were impressed by the amount of food being provided. Student-athletes and coaches had an opportunity not only to help distribute meals, but to interact directly with families.
“We are very blessed to live in a community that cares so much about our students and families,” Peeler said. “We don’t see the need going away any time soon and we’ll be there to assist our students.”
For Polk County Schools, summer meal service extends one of the district’s everyday responsibilities beyond the final day of classes.
For the people who packed bags, loaded carts, carried milk and handed meals to families, it became something larger – a community effort repeated week after week to make sure children continued to have access to food until school began again.
