DAYTON, Ohio — Every Thursday, Fairview Elementary School gets a special delivery, crate after crate of produce and dozens of gallons of soup that Tanae Waites is happy to serve up to anyone looking for a warm meal and fresh food.
According to the family resource coordinator, most of the students she works with at Fairview live in food insecure households or lack access to fresh, healthy food. Waite wanted to offer some assistance, but when she reached out to area nonprofits for help, they decided to pitch in for something bigger.
Across Montgomery County, tens of thousands of families lack access to affordable, fresh food and according to Waites, families have come to rely on the school district to help provide at least one reliable meal every day. Throughout Dayton Public Schools, 55% of students are on free or reduced lunch, and at Fairview, that number jumps to more than 85%.
Waites pours soup at the stand.
“We know that food is an issue,” she said. “Because if a student is hungry, they’re not going to be focused on what they’re learning.”
In her role, Waites said she often hears from students about hunger at home or concern about where their next meal will come from. Once they leave school though, Waites said there’s only so much resource coordinators can do to help besides direct families to groups across Dayton that can help.
“Because the need is there for somebody to support our kids,” she said.
In December, Waites wanted to bring that help to families. She got in touch with one such group, Access to Excess, to try to set up a free weekly produce stand at Fairview.
A food rescue nonprofit, Access to Excess specializes in gleaning food from farms and grocery stores that would otherwise go to waste, and redistributing it to those who need it, but during the winter months, owner Jen Burns said they don’t get as many fresh donations and its harder to find places to set up those produce stands.
That’s where another food-based Dayton nonprofit comes in, Dayton Cooks, where students like Monique Briscoe get a culinary education for a cause.
Briscoe works through produce from Access to Excess
“Just puts a smile on our faces like we all enjoy doing it,” she said. “We all enjoy cooking.”
Usually the students make free meals for after school programs or other nonprofits, but through this partnership, Dayton Cooks will take the produce and ingredients Access to Excess drops off, and convert it into soups for Waites’ families.
“We make about 25 gallons a week,” Briscoe said.
Waites set up the first soup stand on Jan. 27, serving or packing to go hundreds of bowls of soup, for families in need. It was such a hit, she kept the program going every week since.
“I enjoy being here and being able to help remove some of those barriers that our families have and making sure that our kids have their basic needs met and if that means giving out soup and salad and being a listening ear then I’m all for it,” she said.
Waites plans to keep the program going through the cooler months, but as spring arrives and soup season comes to a close, she said she’s hoping to get back to her original plan, focusing on a free produce stand that can provide fresh, seasonal food.
