September 18, 2025
Local NewsState & National

School food bank heavily used

By Erin Henze
Whether the food is eaten as a snack at school or taken home to share with family, all food at the Creston Middle School food pantry comes from the Food Bank of Iowa.

Whether the food is eaten as a snack at school or taken home to share with family, all food at the Creston Middle School food pantry comes from the Food Bank of Iowa. (Contributed)

As Creston Middle School continues their student food pantry for the second year in a row, Principal Lesa Downing said the program is being heavily utilized.

“We have sent a lot of food bags home lately from the food bank in the Creston Middle School,” Downing said. “We sent out 295 bags of food last week.”

In a school of about 280 students, a large percentage are taking advantage of the food program in order to keep their families fed. Through the food pantry, students are able to take a variety of ingredients, including meat, home at the end of the day.

“It’s hamburger, chicken, not just boxed stuff you throw in the microwave and here you go,” CCSD Superintendent Deron Stender said. “It’s actual stuff like a meat and potatoes type of meal. I’m amazed at how they operate it; it works well.”

The program doesn’t work on an income-based limit. Instead, any student can request to bring food home, meaning there’s less stigma for low-income students.

For the weekend, students are able to take extra food home in a separate program started by Food Shelf President Mark O’Riley a few years ago.

In addition to taking food home, all students get healthy snacks throughout the day.

“We feed the entire elementary/middle school a snack. We get healthy snacks like pears, fruit, and we divvy it out on trays to teachers and they give the kids the healthy snack,” Downing said. “Our middle school kids get two snacks. Middle school boys and girls are hungry, and they’re growing, so I’m happy to have snacks for them.”

Food for the programs is provided via the Food Bank of Iowa.

In other school board news...

Before public forum, Stender said the board would not be discussing anything regarding personnel matters. No community members spoke following the announcement, though there was law enforcement present at the meeting.

The board approved a contract amendment with DLR Group for construction administrative services as more delays plague the ECC addition. While preschool and kindergarten students have moved into their new classrooms, there is still work to complete before the project is finished.

The board approved the September 2025 list of contracts and resignations:

Resignations: Jessica Wilker, food service; Deren Fry, bus driver; Janet Hudson, custodian.

Terminations: Pam Sobotka, food service.

Contracts: Rebecca Morrison, paraprofessional; Karla Larson, paraprofessional; Connie Swanson, paraprofessional; Angie Ray, paraprofessional.

Creston

Erin Henze

Originally from Wisconsin, Erin is a recent graduate from UW-Stevens Point. Outside of writing, she loves to read and travel.