Monfredo: Donna Lombardi Recognized by Worcester School Committee
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Ms. Lombardi was recently recognized for this award at the State House in Boston and Congressman McGovern recognized her from the House floor in D.C. for her many accomplishments. In accepting her award Ms. Lombardi stated, “The Healthy Start Leadership Award from the EOS Foundation is a very public recognition for not only myself but for the collective efforts of the child nutrition staff, school administrators, teachers, custodians, and allied organizations such as the Worcester County Food Bank and the Worcester Food and Active Living Policy Council for supporting all aspects of breakfast in the classroom programming.”
Donna, who is one of the unsung heroes in the Worcester Public Schools, has provided universal free breakfast in 18 low income schools. The school district has gone from 6,000 breakfasts to 12,000 being served each day.
Most importantly, these breakfasts are healthy ones, for all cereals served have less than eight grams of sugar per serving, no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup. All cereal has standard levels of fortification, including iron and Vitamin B. All juices are citrus or vegetable based. In addition, Ms. Lombardi has worked with various companies to change their cereals to meet these requirements.
I certainly applaud her for these efforts on breakfast, for when I was a principal, I had to fight to keep sugar cereals out of my building. Donna’s leadership has made it happen system-wide.
The Eos Foundation award was accompanied with a $10,000 grant. The grant monies have been applied as matching funds to a USDA Farm to School Grant. The “Farm to School Meets Breakfast in the Classroom” is where systems to procure, hold, prepare, and serve locally sourced fruits and vegetables will be incorporated into Breakfast in the Classroom programming. Donna hopes to turn the $10,000 grant into a $100,000 project if approved by the Federal Government.
Donna has been a leader in the Farm to School program since 2004 long before it became popular. In this program, students have the opportunity to eat fresh fruits on a daily basis and due to her leadership, through a grant, 13 schools have fresh fruits and vegetables from the same program.
Just last year, under her direction, the Worcester Public Schools was in partnership with the Worcester County Food Bank and the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service) in expanding its summer breakfast and supper program this summer. A mobile food truck funded by Our Family Foundation of Stop and Shop New England delivered meals to two sites: Vernon Hill Park/Pool and Bennett Field Park/Pool. The program entitled “Summer Food Rocks” allowed the Worcester Public Schools to provide meals in locations where facility and space has created challenges.
Thanks to Donna, this summer the program will continue with further expansion of the USDA Summer Meal Program. This program will be in collaboration with the Worcester Public Libraries and will launch a second mobile meal truck generously funded through the Stop and Shop Family Foundation, with support from the Worcester County Food Bank.
Every Monday through Saturday, lunch or evening meals will be served daily at the City of Worcester Main Library at 12:45 p.m. and at three of the branch libraries: Goddard at 3:40 p.m., Great Brook Valley at 2:00 p.m., and Roosevelt at 3:00 p.m. The truck will also continue to be at the Bennett Pool at 4:10 p.m. and at the Shine Pool at 5:05 p.m. In addition, the Perkins Branch library will be serving lunch at 1:20 p.m. from Monday-Friday. This lunch/supper program is tentatively scheduled to start up on June 30th and end on August 23rd.
Here are some other interesting facts: Ms. Lombardi oversees nearly 60 feeding sites, 5.2 million meals in a year, and an $11.8 million budget, a budget greater than 95 whole school districts in the state. Due to her leadership, the school district was the recipient of the Harvester Award by the Worcester County Food Bank and the 2010 Healthiest School System by the Massachusetts Health Council.
I asked Donna what else she planned in the future for the Worcester Public Schools and her reply was, “Plans for the future include the addition of a ‘Training Chef’ who will work on recipe and menu development utilizing seasonal, ‘raw,’ and locally sourced ingredients as available while training the staff on how to best prepare new and existing menu items.” Sounds like a great plan!
It is safe to say that “The Healthy Start Leadership Award” by the Eos Foundation has chosen a most deserving recipient in Donna Lombardi… Congratulations!
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