MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — With school out for the summer, one area district is taking school lunches on the road to help families in need. 

What You Need To Know

  • Middletown Schools started the "Middie Meal Machine" to help fight hunger in 2018, but are now starting to see more families

  • The district's lead chef estimates they are providing free meals to about 120 people a day through the food truck and expects that number to go up

  • The district is planning to bring out the meal truck for the summer, spring break, and holidays to help fill the gap

Mother of three Amanda Elfers took her kids out to eat for lunch but it didn’t cost her anything. It’s the reason she came to the free food truck.

“We don’t get any assistance, my husband works very hard, but these times right now are becoming even hard for us, last year we were taking beach vacations and this year, we’re scraping by,” said Elfers. 

Her family is one of about 120 a day Chef Jerry Henderson said they’re feeding.

Middletown schools first started running the truck in 2018 to fight hunger in the area.

The crew takes the truck to different neighborhoods and parks every day, and he said the need keeps growing. 

“People are not—they don’t have the money they used to have, and quite frankly, some of the people we feed never did have the money, so we feed all the kids in the district free, so when school’s out, it’s imperative that we go to these neighborhoods,” said Henderson.

That’s why they’re planning to run the truck all summer, spring breaks and holidays to help more families have one less thing to worry about.

“We’re just gonna do the best we can and get through this together,” said Elfers. 

The food truck is expected to be in a different neighborhood during the week this summer. To see times and a list of where the truck will be, click here.