During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous people are putting themselves at risk to help others. This includes all first responders: doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, etc. Beginning on April 3, Fenton teachers came together to show their support and delivered meals to local front line workers.

“I had a friend whose dad passed away alone in the hospital,” Special Education teacher Jill Smigielski said. “Their family didn’t get to say their goodbyes to him and they couldn’t have a funeral. I just felt awful for them. I wanted to do something, so I mentioned it to a couple of teachers and from there I put a message out asking teachers if they would be interested in helping to provide a meal to front line responders in Fenton. I was overwhelmed when almost 100 teachers said yes, they wanted to help in under an hour.”

With donations from the entire teaching staff, meals were able to be delivered to the Fenton Police Department, Fenton McLaren ER,  WellBridge of Fenton and Lockwood of Fenton.

“The Fenton schools have been such a gift to all of us at Lockwood of Fenton,” Executive Director of Lockwood Annette Bambach said. “They have been very involved in many facets of our community and are always a pleasure to interact with. The staff was all so thankful that they were thought of and that others acknowledged how hard they are working to keep our residents happy and healthy. I thought it was wonderful that they thought about our team.”

Currently, the meal delivery program is advancing and deliveries continue all around Fenton. 

“The program is phenomenal,” Literacy teacher Maria McFarland said. “The program has been expanded to all of Fenton Area Public Schools and the community. We now have a wide variety of participants and I look forward to seeing where this expands to next. The selflessness of the teachers and every one of our participants has been heartwarming. This small gesture of supporting our local restaurants and providing meals for our first responders and essential workers makes me proud that a small group of Fenton teachers saw a way to help and have embraced it.

Thanks to the Fenton Area Public Schools’ staff, numerous first responders have received meals and local restaurants, including Joe and Louie’s Penalty Box, Fenton Deli, Cancun Restaurant, Berale Street BBQ, Three Boy Bakery and Fun with Frosting, have been supported as they have been used for the program.