KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Great Schools Partnership, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee and Redeemer Church are working together to open the first food pantry inside a Knox County School.
The food pantry inside Maynard Elementary School will be the first of its kind in the area. Food will be available to families the third Thursday of every month from 3 to 5 p.m. This schedule will continue even during the summer.
According to a news release from Great Schools Partnership, an education foundation serving Knox County, 100 percent of Maynard Elementary's 156 students qualify for the free lunch program.
Great Schools Partnership was already providing the students with snacks through the backpack program, but officials with the foundation said Second Harvest and Redeemer Church approached the group about a food pantry.
Maynard’s principal, Dexter D. Murphy, supported the idea, and now the food pantry is set to open after a ribbon cutting at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 18.
