Groton Public Schools Nutrition Department Receives Grant

The School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), the charitable arm of the non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA), has named Ernie Koschmieder, food service director of Groton Public Schools, CT, one of two recipients of the SNF Collection Grant for school meal program equipment. School nutrition professionals around the country applied for SNF Equipment Grants in October 2019, vying for upwards of $65,000 worth of new equipment to benefit their school meal program.

With a U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, many area schools cater to children and families of those serving the country and working on the submarine base. One school in Koschmieder’s district currently operates without a dedicated cafeteria or kitchen. Meals are prepared in another school kitchen eight miles away and then delivered in portable steam tables on wheels to be served in the cafeteria/auditorium space. This site has minimal space and equipment to serve fresh fruits and vegetables, but they take advantage of every inch.

With this grant, Koschmieder plans to purchase a suite of kitchen equipment for this school, allowing staff to offer more fresh, on-site cooked food to those students. According to Koschmieder, that extra kitchen would also open up cooking clubs and nutrition education opportunities, similar to programs offered in other Groton schools.

“This grant will benefit the children of Charles Barnum Elementary and help us expand and increase participation in our programs, particularly our Farm 2 School initiatives,” said Koschmieder. “The updates and new equipment will provide more students with access to freshly prepared school meals - these kids deserve it. My staff goes above and beyond for all of our students, especially during through these extraordinary times, this grant is a shining glimmer for us."

The Groton Public Schools Food Services Department serves its roughly 4,850 students through the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs, while also offering summer meals.

School meal programs operate on extremely tight budgets, funded by cafeteria sales and reimbursements for meals served. With revenue declines due to COVID-19 school closures, many school meal programs lack critical funds to purchase necessary equipment and supplies or cover transportation, temporary staffing and other costs associated with current COVID-19 feeding programs. SNF’s spring 2020 Help Feed School Kids Now! fundraising campaign will support grants to meet immediate emergency feeding needs. Applications started being accepted on April 13, and will be awarded on a rolling basis based on the volume of funds raised.

About School Nutrition Foundation:

The School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), a 501(c)3 and sister organization of the School Nutrition Association, awards grants and scholarships to the women and women who feed the nation’s school children. The 2020 SNF Equipment Grants are made possible by the generous contributions of Vulcan/Hobart, Winston Foodservice, CMA Dish Machines, Cooler Management, Eloma North America, Innoseal Systems, Jackson Warewashing Systems, Inc., Sterno Delivery, Unox, and Unified Brands.

About School Nutrition Association:

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing more than 55,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Founded in 1946, SNA and its members are dedicated to making healthy school meals and nutrition education available to all students. For more information on school meals, visit www.SchoolNutrition.org/SchoolMeals.