FLORENCE, Ala. — Florence City Schools has some new wheels that’s taking the Child Nutrition Program to new heights. The Falcon Feeder is a custom-built food truck the school system will use to deliver meals to students when needed.
The Falcon Feeder was teased on social media with vague messages for days prior to its surprise unveiling at a news conference Thursday morning.
The school system’s purchase of the food truck comes after its Feeding the Falcons initiative that helped supply more than 60,000 meals to children in northwest Alabama during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though the program was successful, Child Nutrition Program Coordinator Tara Talmage feared many children were going hungry due to a lack of personal transportation. The Falcon Feeder aims to solve that problem.
“First and foremost, it needs to be known that this would not have happened if it was not for the No Kid Hungry organization and their generosity,” Talmage said.
No Kid Hungry is a national campaign under the Share Our Strength organization. The nonprofit works to solve hunger and poverty problems around the world.
Talmage said she had only been with Florence City Schools since the fall before the pandemic and realized then how important child nutrition programs are.
“…but did not realize just to the extent that they were necessary until the pandemic hit, schools closed, and our Feeding the Falcons operation really got started,” Talmage said.
The first of its kind in the Shoals, the Falcon Feeder will run on a route similar to Florence City Schools buses, meeting the students where they are.
Florence City Schools applied for a grant through No Kid Hungry and in September, was notified the organization would be providing $100,000 for the truck.
For the truck’s initial use, plans for summer feeding distribution are already in the works.
Florence City Schools said the Falcon Feeder’s uses are not limited to the summer feeding program and closures; the school system is also prepared to use it to meet additional needs within the system and community.
