WINONA, Minn. –  Within two days of when Winona schools closed because of rhe CoVid pandemic, the school nutrition staff had figured out how to make sure no student went hungry. On March 18 the first free meal packs were distributed at sites around town. Since then, said spokesperson John Casper, the staff handed out 402,971 free meals to all students. Some number

> 11,063 pounds of whole-grain cereal

> 39,202 pounds of apples

> 19,601 pounds of carrot

> 38,136 sticks of string cheese

> 7,350 gallons of vegetable juice

> 62,062 gallons of milk

All told, the school nutrition staff has spent 29,864 labor hours preparing, packing and distributing the free meals around the district, Casper said.

All smiles. She’s taking home one of the first meal packs from school a year ago.