Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
The Columbia County Health Department is raising funds to provide meals for Starbuck students
Martha Lanman (l) and Carol Wildman (background) look on as Columbia Pulp CEO John Begley presents a $1,000 check to Starbuck School District Superintendent Kevin Graffis (r). The award will help fund a breakfast and lunch program in the Starbuck school until the end of this school year.
DAYTON – There is a kitchen, but there is no breakfast or lunch program for the 18 K-8 students and seven preschoolers enrolled in the Starbuck School District. Surprisingly, that's nothing new. There hasn't been for about 15 years, according to Starbuck School District Superintendent Kevin Graffis.
"That's just not acceptable," said County Public Health Director Martha Lanman. "We don't know how many are coming to school without breakfast."
That could be remedied if school and public health officials have their way. Lanman thinks it will cost around $8,000 to fund a food program until the end of this school year.
She has already received a pledge from Columbia Pulp, LLC for $1,000 and another pledge of $100 every month for the rest of the year, from an anonymous donor.
Lanman said the kitchen will need to be inspected and brought up to code before it can be used. An application to the USDA School Lunch Grant Program will follow, she said.
"I think it's a great program," Lanman said. "For these kids to have that nutritional value to help them learn every day is so important."
Graffis agrees. "This is going to be great," he said. "We'll keep our fingers crossed."
He said the students are getting milk and nutrition bars, but he is looking forward to being able to provide them with breakfast and lunch.
Lanman said the staff at Blue Mountain Counseling, in Dayton, first brought the plight of Starbuck students to the attention of the staff in the Health Department.
They reported that some of the students are only eating Top Ramen noodles at school.
In the meantime, Starbuck students are getting fresh fruit every week due to the financial generosity of the Board of Columbia County Commissioners and the generosity of the staff at Blue Mountain Counseling, who deliver fruit each Wednesday.
Lanman said the Health Department provides fresh fruit to students visiting the Dayton High School office, and the principal's office. She said that has had a positive impact on their nutritional status, and it has enhanced the relationship between the students and staff.
"The fruit is always gone," she said.
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