Stronger Together: A Community-Driven Approach to Staff Nutrition

Community

Chartwells K12 and Florence 1 Schools partner to deliver healthy meals and support the well-being of all school staff

After receiving feedback from employee focus groups, administrators at Florence 1 School District in South Carolina heard a common theme: staff wanted more access to fresh, affordable, healthy meals. When the superintendent reached out to Angela Price, Resident District Manager, to see if Chartwells K12 could bring this vision to life, she said yes and got to work.

“To make it happen, we invested in new equipment, identified space for salad bars outside the cafeteria, created an ordering app for staff members, hired new Chartwells associates, and organized logistics to serve district offices, transportation, and more,” Angela explained. “It was a huge undertaking, but we knew the positive impact this program could have for our school staff.”

As part of the Blue Zones Initiative, a local community health movement, the district planned to provide school staff with three free, healthy meals per week, estimating to serve around 600 to 800 meals a day.

The program successfully launched earlier this spring, exceeding initial estimates by serving an average of 1,100 meals per day. In the first two weeks alone, nearly 7,000 meals were served to district staff members.

Beyond the numbers, the real impact is in the response. Staff members have reached out to Angela and the Chartwells team to express gratitude and share how these meals have helped ease personal challenges, including food insecurity.

“It’s a powerful reminder of why this work matters,” Angela said. “When we talk about K-12 food service, school staff are sometimes left out of the conversation. But they, too, are a large part of the community we serve, and they influence the choices our students make. This program is a win for all involved.”