CHICOPEE – ChicopeeFRESH, the food service program for Chicopee Public Schools, has been operating since 2015. Before COVID-19, ChicopeeFRESH offered daily breakfast and lunch meals for all of the city’s public schools. They also offered a supper program that ran in the two middle and high schools. Every meal included at least one item that is farm fresh and each day there were a variety of fruits and vegetables included. Since COVID-19, ChicopeeFRESH has had to shift their in-school meals to a grab and go alternative.

ChicopeeFRESH now runs grab and go pick-up at four locations across the city. Kids who are currently in school with the hybrid model will receive normal breakfast and lunch options, but those learning remotely are still able to get their meals. Chicopee High School, Chicopee Comprehensive High School and Stefanik School provide an after-school meal. Bowe Elementary School provides an earlier pick-up for lunch. Those in need of a meal are able to stop by any location that is convenient for them.

“We don’t ask for IDs or anything, people just pull up and say how many kids the meals are for, so we are still providing meals for the remote kids at this time too,” said Melanie Wilk, food service director for ChicopeeFRESH.

This grab and go alternative was created in response to COVID-19 to make sure those in need would still get nutritional meals daily, according to Wilk. Anyone up to the age of 18 is able to pick up meals Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Two sets of meals are given out on Mondays and Wednesdays and three meals are given out on Fridays, which ends up covering an entire week for those in need. Currently, the two high schools are operating meal pick-up from 4 p.m to 6 p.m., Stefanik school from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Bowe from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Each week ChicopeeFRESH posts a menu on their Facebook page. According to Wilk, the program tries to have 15-20 percent of the menu be farm fresh items sourced from local farms, produce vendors and meat suppliers in the area.

“We still have some processed items, but we try to balance that out with a lot of local and fresh ingredients,” said Wilk.

Each meal comes frozen and can be easily heated up in their microwave and oven-safe containers. According to Wilk, meals were initially served hot, but they found that parents preferred them frozen so they could be warmed up when necessary. Meals usually come with milk and fresh fruit on the side.

Both Wilk and the Farm to School Coordinator, Greta Shwachman, work together to create the menu. Shwachman works to come up with many of the menu items and Wilk goes through to make sure each meal meets all government regulations such as portion sizes, different colors of vegetables and certain amounts of fresh produce are being included each week and more.

“In normal times, we love to go to conferences to get ideas and see what other districts are doing with their meals. There’s lots of resources online that we use to find new menu items when we can. We know the kids favorite things so we try to keep those around consistently and then every once in a while we try to introduce something new,” said Wilk.

Examples of some previous grab and go meals include dishes like beef tacos, chicken scampi, chicken with rice and vegetables, quesadillas and lasagna roll-ups.

The ChicopeeFRESH grab and go program also ran through April vacation and into the summer. The summer program usually has pick-up at different parks across the city, but with COVID-19, they were unable to have kids congregating in the parks together, said Wilk. They were able to set up 11 drive-thru locations for meals instead.

“It was really, really busy in the summer which was great,” said Wilk.

During Thanksgiving and Christmas break, ChicopeeFRESH paused meal pick-up to give the team a break. The team works to craft the meals, prepare the food and assemble all grab and go boxes themselves.

“They have been working really, really hard so they really did deserve a break,” said Wilk.

It’s unclear whether the meals will be offered over February and April break as Wilk said that is something that needs to be confirmed with Superintendent Lynn Clark.

The response to the program has been incredible, according to Wilk, with thousands of meals being given out each day pick-up is offered.

“It’s been pretty incredible. Obviously we didn’t think we would be doing this for almost a year now, so the response has been incredible. It’s not quite as many meals as we would serve when kids are in school, but we are serving thousands of families a day and I know a lot of them are really, really grateful for this service,” she said. “So many people have lost their jobs or have been forced to stay home because their kids are remote, so I think it really takes a lot of stress off the parent with the fact that they can have all three meals ready to go for their kids and not have to worry about where their meals are going to come from.”

Those interested in learning more about ChicopeeFRESH or viewing their weekly menu are encouraged to visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chicopeefresh/.