Boardman school pantry helps to keep families fed during pandemic

BOARDMAN — On an average day when school is in session, about 50 students will take home items from Boardman Center Intermediate School's food pantry so that their families can have dinner that night.

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools across Ohio to close, BCIS staff members want to ensure those families are not going hungry.

Counselors Mindy DePietro, Kendra Baltes and Linda Frease have spent hours packing and organizing a week's worth of groceries to be ready for pickup.

And in some cases, when a family can't get to the school, deliveries are made.

"The pandemic has created many hardships, but for our most vulnerable families, this pantry has become something they could count on," DePietro said. " We are trying to make sure those families are getting what they need."

BCIS was the first school in the Mahoning Valley to open a daily, in-school food pantry as a pilot program with Second Harvest Food Bank in November 2016. Since then, Boardman Local Schools has added food pantries at BHS, Glenwood Jr. High and Stadium Drive Elementary.

"We know that hundreds of students and their families have made it through a tough time, job loss, or unexpected event in part because the pantry helped them to put dinner on the table," DePietro said."

Student food drives help stock the pantry, and the Boardman Lions Club helps to stock and organize pantry shelves.

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 4:24 AM with the headline "Boardman school pantry helps to keep families fed during pandemic."