Archive: Around Town

Cornell Orchards has long been known for its generosity in supporting the local community. So when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close, leaving many students without regular access to meals, the orchards' staff saw an opportunity to pitch in.  Throughout April, the orchards will be donating approximately 26,000 apples to two local school districts to supplement efforts to provide meals for students and families in need.

The newest project began when Eric Anderson, wholesale coordinator at Cornell Orchards, started talking with colleague Cathy Crispell, an Orchards technician, about an article that described the great need for schools to continue providing meals to local children during the COVID-19 shutdown. "During that conversation, we knew we had to try and help our local schools," Anderson said.

Crispell reached out to Dryden Central Schools, where her daughter works, and Anderson took the lead on reaching out to the Ithaca City School District (ICSD). They quickly learned the needs were "truly quite staggering."

ICSD has been making 2,500 meals a day to deliver directly to students' homes. Dryden Central Schools has been producing about 175 boxes of meals every 10 days, each of which can feed a family of four until the next box arrives.

"We really appreciate the donation of the apples," said Beth Krause, director of ICSD's Child Nutrition Program. "Cornell apples have been part of a delicious lunch given to ICSD students. We are distributing over 1,000 breakfasts and 1,600 lunches daily via school bus to about 700 homes."

Anderson said that the orchards are "committed to delivering 11,200 pounds of apples over the next month, with weekly deliveries."

"Typically, we would be selling the apples in the greater Cornell community, Cornell Dining, offices, sororities, fraternities and campus events," Anderson said. "We had the inventory to help fill the need in the community, so I don't see how we couldn't help."

v16i16