Corpus Christi (KIII News) — The work at the Corpus Christi Independent School District's Food Services building never ends. Whether it's 2 a.m. or 2 p.m., hundreds of employees work hard to make sure students throughout the district are fed.
"Here we actually make food," Ralph Chavez said.
Chavez, a supervisor with Food Services, said they make almost all of the food from scratch, including French bread and granola. He said they are meals students actually look forward to eating.
"It's an important role we play," Chavez said.
The building consists of the central kitchen, a warehouse, loading docks and a freezer kept at a refreshing five degrees. Chavez and Food Services Director Jody Houston said without the hundreds of employees, feeding over 38,000 students would not be possible.
"Kids depend on you for their fuel to learn while they're at school," Chavez said.
"It would not work without one of these employees," Houston said. "We need everybody."
The employees said the sad reality is that many of the CCISD's students rely on school for food.
"This may be their only meal, and being able to provide that to the kids is very important to us," Chavez said.
This year, CCISD was able to implement the Community Eligibility Program, which means every student in the district can eat breakfast and lunch for free without filling out an application. Additionally, some of the schools have started the after-school supper program, where students can eat dinner for free as well.
Luckily, the food students in the district eat is nutritious and fresh, an important asset for Houston.
"When we're hungry we can't perform. We can't learn. We can't do our best work," Houston said.
Houston said they have a head chef who plans all of the meals for the schools. Each week the menus change and cooking for thousands of students is much different than cooking for your family of five.
"It's an amazing process and it takes everybody," Houston said.
A majority of the food that is cooked at the facility is packaged and sent to elementary schools in CCISD. Houston said the secondary schools have kitchens where they cook food given to them by the central kitchen. All-in-all, Houston and Chavez said all of the employees play an integral part.
"It's one of a kind, really. You don't find this system anywhere," Chavez said.
"At the end of the day you might not get everything that was on your to do list done that day, but you still leave knowing kids ate," Houston said.
CCISD hopes to have the Community Eligibility Program for the next four years. Houston said they are always looking for meal ideas and you can submit them via the Food Services website.
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