So far, there have been some hiccups in the Bulk Feeding efforts by Hamblen County Schools and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, mainly that the need is greater than anticipated.

There are five nights of Bulk Feeding for students and their families on all five Tuesday nights during June.

The Bulk Feeding is being held at West View, Witt and Whitesburg Schools. Each distribution is held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

At Tuesday’s Hamblen County Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Arnold Bunch, Jr. said that 1,900 bags were prepared to be distributed, equaling more than 13,000 meals last week.

“We ran out at Witt in less than an hour,” Bunch said. “We also ran out at Whitesburg and at West View.”

Bunch said that the number of meals has been bumped up to roughly 15,000 meals.

“It’s a great effort by the school nutrition team to make this happen,” Bunch said. “We are looking to see if there are any other ways to increase the amount of food we can give out. We are freezer and refrigerator limited to what we can do.”

Bunch said that Mayfield Dairy is bringing a truck out to distribute milk.

“I’m really proud of the way the team is working to support the community,” Bunch said.

In a release from Hamblen County Food Services Director Jennifer Buchanan, she thanked the community for the incredible turnout at our meal distribution sites last week, but preached patience in the amounts of food available.

“We are grateful to serve so many children in our community,” Buchanan said. “We also apologize to those we were unable to accommodate. Due to program limitations, we are restricted in the number of meals available for distribution.”

Buchanan reminded the community about the Bulk Feeding meals:

• Bulk meal distributions are available on a firstcome, first-served basis while supplies last.

• Meals may only be picked up for children who reside in your household.

• If requesting meals for a larger number of children, you may be asked to provide verification of household composition. If verification cannot be provided, the amount of meals distributed may be limited or denied.

“Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work to ensure meals are distributed equitably and reach the children they are intended to serve in accordance with program guidelines,” Buchanan said.

John Hay Construction Update

In his “Director’s Report,” Bunch said the first meeting with the contractor of the John Hay Elementary renovation project took place last week.

“We are signing the notice to proceed before next week,” he said. “Everything is on track. We have a couple of items to clean up, but that should be easy to do.”

The work on the school should start on June 15, according to Bunch. Demolition will be done first, then two new classrooms will be added to the building.”

“I’m really excited to get that program off and running and ready to go,” Bunch said.

The John Hay students will attend classes at the former Lincoln Heights Elementary building that was vacated earlier this year when their new school opened on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Movement of equipment and desks was done at the end of the school year in May.