An Open Letter to Our School Lunch HEROES During NSLW 2020

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Harris School Solutions

Every year, we celebrate our School Lunch workers because they’re the ones who roll up their sleeves and do the critical work of feeding students.

On a good day, in a “normal” year, the job is challenging both physically and mentally. It requires the right mix of ingredients from toughness to caring.

But this year is different.

This year, an already-difficult job became more physically demanding, more mentally draining, and often even risky to your health.

This year, you’ve had to overcome confusion with evolving rules, adapting to sudden changes both statewide from public health agencies and also locally in your unique school and community.

This year, you’ve come home more tired and drained than ever before, and gone to bed more unsure of how the next day will unfold.

That’s why, this year, Harris School Solutions is taking extra time to write this letter.

There’s no real way we can truly thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do, even amid the difficult circumstances of 2020.

But what we can do is acknowledge how hard you’re working, and how this year has been a sample, a “taste test” so to speak, of what our School Lunch heroes have actually been doing all along.

You consistently find a way to take whatever you’ve been given — in this case, a year that’s as unpredictable as it is challenging — and turn it into something more than just “palatable.” You turn it into something impressive, something appealing.

Day in and day out, you’ve found a way to get the work done, and to get it done with a smile on your face no matter the circumstances.

For us at Harris School Solutions, we’ve watched you take your toughness and your caring, and use it to cook up hope in portions generous enough to nourish not just your students, but all of us this year.

Which, really, isn’t unlike what you do every day, every year.

And for that, we thank you: our heroes.

For more information about National School Lunch Week, visit the School Nutrition Association’s webpage.

Our School Nutrition solutions have been helping our School Lunch workers for years. We’ve adapted them this year to meet the real-world needs of the heroes who are using them in the real world. Complete the form below to find out more.