Welcome to Food Connects’ series highlighting the amazing essential workers in our community who work hard every day to keep our children fed. Read on to learn more!
Lori Reynolds
“ We try to have a little bit of fun and have a few laughs, and everyone works really hard. We’re here to come in and get it done and serve the people!”
Lori Reynolds has been working in school food service for about five years. She usually works at Dummerston School, but since the pandemic started, she has been based in the kitchen at Academy School, working with a team of food service professionals from schools throughout the district to get meals to students safely. Here’s a glimpse of what life has been like for her these past few months.
Sheila Humphreys (SH): How has your work changed due to COVID-19?
Lori Reynolds (LR): Work is much busier—much, much busier! We're used to serving 80-100 kids in Dummerston. Here it’s more like 500 breakfasts and 500 lunches every day! It's much more work, but it's very satisfying. I’ve gotten a few more hours now than when I worked at Dummerston, which is fine. I'm okay with that. And I’m working with different people. They're very, very nice. All the girls are very nice to work with, and Danny is too. We try to have a little bit of fun and have a few laughs, and everyone works really hard. We're here to come in and get it done and serve the people!
SH: What has kept you going during these unusual times?
LR: Doing this work! It's very satisfying to know that we are helping people that really, really need the food. It's very surprising how many people need the food right now. It's a very satisfying job, actually, to know that you're really helping someone out that really needs it.
SH: What has been your biggest challenge during this time?
LR: The times when we really haven’t been able to visit people have been really hard. I'm a very family-oriented person, and I miss getting together and seeing my family. That’s been very hard. As far as my job goes, they put me in charge of dairy-free and gluten-free meals. That's a little challenging for me, to be truthful, but I'm getting through it. I'm learning new things which is a little bit challenging for me, but I’m doing it! There are a lot of details to keep track of because some meals are gluten-free, some are dairy-free, some are both gluten-free and dairy-free, some are vegetarian, some vegan, some need Lactaid milk...it’s a lot of different items in a lot of different bags! I pack between 20-28 meals each day, and I do it first thing in the morning, so all those details get my brain going very quickly!
SH: How can the community support you and other food service workers during this time?
LR: It helps when people show up and pick up the meals that we make. That's a very big thing because it's sad when you see some of the meals you packed coming back. Hopefully, when families sign up for meals, they can get there and pick them up and hopefully use the food. I know everybody has problems here and there, and if they can't get there one day to pick up the food, it's not a big deal, but we put a lot of work into this. We work very hard doing this, and so it's sad when you're rushing in the morning, rush, rush, rush to get out 500 bags, and then you start seeing the bags coming back at the end of the day, but for the most part, it's a satisfying job.
SH: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this career?
LR: Well, it's very satisfying to see the kids come through the line. You get to know them and you get to talk to them a little bit as they're going through the line. It's very satisfying, especially if you like children. They're usually pretty happy at lunchtime—it’s a little break for them. It makes the job a little bit fun when you get to talk to the kids and things like that.
SH: What brings you joy?
LR: Family! I love my family, and I like my work. In general, life is good!
SH: What are some things that you are grateful for?
LR: I’m grateful for having a job. There are a lot of people out of work, so I'm thankful for having work. And I’m thankful that my life is good! I love to travel, and I’m grateful for the traveling I’ve done. I’ve been to Hawaii three times. I travel with my aunt because my husband does not travel. He says, “Go wherever you'd like, just don't ask me to go.” So I say, “Okay, no problem!” We take a trip once a year, so we've been to a lot of places, and I just love that! I love going to someplace new.
SH: Did you have any trips planned this year that you had to postpone?
LR: We were going to go to California, but we decided to skip it this year. We've been going to California, around Palm Desert area, for the last six or seven years. There's a nice little place we like out there.
SH: Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
LR: I think Ali is very blessed with the work crew she has here. I think we all work pretty well together, and we get things done. So that's about it!