Rural food delivery rolls out

The fog forced a delay.

But once it cleared and the first day of rural bulk food delivery for Jay School Corporation was complete, the evaluation was the same as for the first day of food pick-up a week earlier.

It went like clockwork.

“I hate to use the same word again, but it was true,” said Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley, who used that word — clockwork — a week earlier. “The big curveball was the fog. And we made adjustments and people adapted …

“It’s two things, innovation and continuous improvement. And it’s been carried out by everyone — bus drivers, food services, aids …”

The bulk food — five breakfasts and five lunches in a single package — was scheduled to start arriving at rural Jay County homes at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, delivered on regular bus routes. Heavy fog that lasted until late in the morning delayed those plans. Buses instead rolled out of the Jay County High School parking lot at about 12:30 p.m., delivering a week’s worth of meals to more than 600 households.

Anyone who requested food delivery and did not receive it was asked to fill out a form online. Plans are to follow up with those deliveries today — about 65 out of the 677 homes that requested food — while also holding what has become the regular food pick-up for “town kids” at the school buildings.



Bulk delivery for in-town students is set to begin Friday. They will get five breakfasts and five lunches in a single package when they pick up food from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Jay County High School, East Jay Middle School, Westlawn and Redkey Elementary schools and the former Pennville Elementary School.

Gulley said he expects to have plans in place Friday for extended bulk feeding, likely with rural delivery one day and in-town pick-up another.

“That will help us be more predictable,” said Gulley. “It’s stunning to me that we are creating an Amazon-like distribution system. I just can’t put words to how remarkable that is.”

Home delivery to “town kids” is also a possibility down the road, he said, as Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has already announced the state’s schools will remain closed through May 1.

Since March 18, the school corporation has distributed 13,507 meals.

Also Wednesday, Holcomb announced that school corporations in the state are being encouraged to open their buildings on a limited basis for child care for emergency workers and “others who are working to keep communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

While nothing has been finalized, Gulley said he is open to the possibility of using a building — likely the former Judge Haynes Elementary School — for that purpose. Such an option would likely be in partnership with IU Health Jay to provide child care for health care workers.