MADISON, Ala. - The Madison City School System is launching a new program, the first of its kind for the district during summer months.
"A Place at the Table" is a partnership between the school system and several non-profit organizations. The purpose is to bring Madison students and their families meals during summer.
"Our community sees that need, our school system sees that need, our leaders in the school system see that need, and they want to help and be a part of that," said Assistant Madison City Schools Superintendent, Eric Terrell.
Families in need, with a student enrolled in Madison City Schools, can come by West Madison Elementary or Horizon Elementary to pick up a bag filled with their choice of food.
The Asbury Food Pantry is the collection site for West Madison and the House of Harvest does the same for Horizon Elementary.
"We wanted to allow our students to pick and choose things, so that we won't have items wasted at home," said Assistant Principal at Horizon, Tammy Jones.
The school system has a backpack program to distribute food throughout the school year, but system leaders say the need carries over into the summer.
"We saw that need and we took it upon ourselves community-wide and school-wide, to fulfill that need for our citizens who are in that 20-25% range who do qualify for that type of service," said Terrell.
Faculty and staff are the ones who see the challenges of a student who doesn't know if the meal at school is their last one for the day.
"In the field of education, your first love is the kids," said Terrell. "So when you hear that need from a kid, you want to be able to provide that need for them. So, we make sure those things take place."
If you would like to donate, you can take items to the Asbury Food Pantry or the House of Harvest to be distributed to Madison City School families.
If it is successful, Terrell says school leaders would hopefully like to extend the program to all schools in the district. The program will run from May 31-August 2.
House of Harvest will drop food off at Horizon Elementary on Wednesdays and will open for families to pick up bags from 4-6 p.m.
Asbury Food Pantry will drop food off at West Madison Elementary for pick up on Wednesdays as well from 2-4 p.m.