HISD Nutrition Services Officer Betti Wiggins will share her experiences regarding emergency community feeding during a webinar sponsored by food service publications.

Wiggins will participate in a panel discussion to explore how school districts are utilizing different methods to provide nutritious meals through the COVID-19 pandemic. The “K-12 Child Nutrition: Serving students and families during COVID-19” webinar will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 21.

The webinar is sponsored by the editorial teams of Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality, and Food Management magazines. She will be joined by Minneapolis Public Schools Director of Culinary and Wellness Services Bertrand Weber and Londonderry School District Director of Dining Services Amanda Venezia.

In the weeks since HISD closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nutrition Services has worked with the Houston Food Bank to focus its efforts on food distribution sites located throughout the district.

Wiggins and her team utilize the Hexser T. Holliday Food Services Support Facility as the central hub for this initiative. Staff pack food boxes at the facility and deliver them to the distribution sites Monday through Friday. Each site can distribute up to 500 boxes per day.

As families arrive at the sites, staff members minimize contact by filling out an Emergency Food Assistance Program Form for them and placing food in their trunks. Participants who walk up to the sites must also adhere to social distancing requirements.