North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
Capture Inc. shares ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’. Terry McLean, owner and operator, is providing breakfasts and lunches to students while the HCSD has suspended their 13 pickup sites and bus service to deliver meals. HCSD asked parents to continue to check the county school website for announcements when the meals will be available again.
By Annie Rigby
Horry County School District suspended the grab-n-go breakfast/lunch program for two weeks after employees tested positive in two locations for COVID-19 disease. Parents would drive to the school locations to pick up the meals. Also school buses were loaded with coolers to distribute food to students unable d to their website, “As of April 15th, three HCS attendance areas (Conway, North Myrtle Beach and Socastee) have been impacted by employees who have tested positive for COVID-19, and multiple employees working in the meal program have had to self-quarantine as a result of their direct contact with individuals who received positive test results either last week or today. Consequently, the district will suspend the operation of all 13 grab-and-go meal sites and all bus meal pick-up locations for the next two weeks effective April 16, 2020.”
They will assess their meal program following the two-week suspension. Parents are asked to monitor the district’s website and social media concerning notifications of when, or if, meal service can resume during this public health emergency. “Words cannot express adequately our gratitude to all of our HCS employees who have served our students as a part of the district’s meal program since March 16.” With a final note they write, “As of today, their efforts and dedication have enabled us to serve 166,072 meals to HCS students.”
Other Horry County school districts are receiving assistance with grab-n-go breakfasts and lunches to continue to provide food to students in need of the meals. Terry McLean, owner and operator of Capture Inc., a nonprofit organization on Spring Street, is offering free breakfasts and lunches to the students in the Loris area. She said, “During the interruption of the meals distributed to students at the local schools, we are providing two meals to students Monday through Friday so the children do not go hungry.” Capture Inc. set up tables with ready to go meals for each car to drive through pick up beginning on Monday, April 20, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. McLean said, “Due to the rain we did not have many show up to pick up the meals;” she continued, “my staff and I are driving to areas we know children live to deliver the meals directly.” She does not have the staff and volunteers to drive to areas and personally deliver the meals and hopes that parents will get the word that they are provided for the students. She did state there is paperwork which provides them with information to assure everyone is counted in the number of meals they need to provide each day.
Monday’s breakfast consisted of peaches and a pancake on a stick and milk and lunch was a ham and cheese wrap with grapes, carrots and milk. Each day two meals will be provided, some will have a hot breakfast of grits and fruit, lunches generally consist of a sandwich unless they have the means to make chicken bog, fried chicken or other significant meals. She is asking each driver to remain in their vehicle for social distancing requirements. The meals will be handed to them and they drive away.
Capture Inc. has 85 children in their facility as parents are at work; McLean stated that some have remained home with their family during the stay home or work executive order by the governor. She said the children are social distancing, but with young children it is difficult to tell them not to hug or touch everything, therefore they have sanitizing stations where the children wash their hands or use sanitizer.
This past week was Spring Break for the HCSD. The children had no school work, which made them busy keeping the children active with exercise, arts and crafts, reading time and of course some nap time. McLean said, “We rotate breakfast and lunchtime schedules so that the children will not be sitting together.” She stated they are generally in groups of five or six and are spread out in the large lunchroom. When they return to school work the volunteers are busy helping with learning stations and assisting children with their homework. McLean says, “We keep them on a schedule and try not to disrupt the children’s routine as much as possible.” She, her staff and volunteers are constantly cleaning the building and sanitizing throughout the day.They scrub per SCDEHC protocol each day to disinfect the school even when there was not a deadly virus pandemic.
McLean stated that any student who needs to utilize technology to complete their online school work is welcome to sit in the parking lot at the building to access their WIFI connection at no charge.
Anyone who would like to donate food items and snacks or money to Capture Inc. they are located at 4350 Spring Street, their phone number is 843-877-1226. You can call it for more information.
