As Joe Biden‘s supply chain crisis continues to worsen, children are now feeling the effects of the distribution issues, with many schools in Alabama being forced to ask parents for help.
School officials in Alexander City have revealed that suppliers are short on products, drivers, and warehouse employees, echoing the trend that is spreading across the United States and leading to panic over empty shelves.
Schools in Alexander City serve breakfast and lunch daily for their students, but are now warning that the shortage may impact breakfast in the coming weeks.
The school officials have grown desperate, and are now asking parents to send their children to school with a full stomach and snacks.
In one school in Dothan City, children rely heavily on school-provided meals. Luckily, the school has partnered with Dothan Leisure Services to obtain the ‘No Kid Hungry’ grant, which would provide backpack meals to students.
“This area has a high population of free and reduced meal recipients, so they need to ensure that they do get meals when schools are closed is what brought this grant about,” explained Stephanie Wingfield, program coordinator. “Kids can’t do a whole lot when they’re hungry. When they have food, then they can go out and do other things, but it’s kinda hard to be hungry and to concentrate.”
This National School Lunch Week, we recognize #hungerheroes who are behind the scenes, making decisions to keep students healthy and nourished. Feeding kids today is one of the smartest investments we can make to ensure they’re ready to face the challenges of tomorrow. #NSLW21 pic.twitter.com/tNsASBpMIH
— No Kid Hungry (@nokidhungry) October 14, 2021
The ‘No Kid Hungry’ program will allow Dothan Leisure Services to be able to give meals to other schools, as well as to provide meals to children in need for Thanksgiving and Christmas break.
But the question is, how long will these programs be able to help for? With the supply chain disruptions only getting worse, will there be a point at which there is no food to distribute to these children? The authoritarian lockdowns that have been in place throughout the COVID pandemic have led to a shortage in workers and truck drivers, as well as a backup at ports around the country where imported goods are still stuck on cargo ships offshore. Shelves at grocery stores are becoming barren again, leaving people concerned about whether the shelves may be empty permanently at some point. Is there any solution to this problem, or are we facing hard times ahead?
