Driver David Long and HR Manager Jim Wilde unload the Lowe’s van packed with new equipment.
By Madie Murray
On Friday, October 12, new equipment for our school cafeteria kitchen and home ec room arrived with still more to come in a few weeks.
Five new stoves, a refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and clothes washer were placed in the home ec room and wow are they beautiful! Mandy’s classroom also got a new stove and dishwasher.
Right when the milk refrigerator gasped its last amp, a new reach-in arrived in the cafeteria, along with a pressure cooker, new proofer holding cabinet to keep trays of food warm prior to serving, an industrial strength blender and a new scale.
Coming soon will be a brand new 12-burner range with a griddle for the school cafeteria, much to Zach’s delight! Also, a new 3-door reach-in refrigerator a brand new 6-well steamer serving counter will be replacing the old, rotted out one.
Believe it or not, these purchases only used up two-thirds of the money received from the Lowe’s Charitable and Education Foundation grant, so even more equipment will be coming. And, a portion will also be set aside to help build a root cellar-type facility so we can keep potatoes, onions, apples and other bulk items stored for long periods of time and reduce spoilage when the cafeteria receives large quantities. All of this equipment is appropriate for installation in a renovated cafeteria and food science classroom should the 1980’s Renovation Bond pass.
Lowe’s Area Manager Chris Whiting and Human Resource Manager Jim Wilde not only helped deliver the items along with store manager George Guevera and driver David Long, but they stayed and Celebrated our Farm to Cafeteria Celebration Lunch and Garden Tour that occurred on the 13th.
What a welcomed gift this was for our school, and we are truly grateful to Lowe’s for this generous grant and for the incredibly enthusiastic way the Lowe’s people have become involved in this project! You can download a document Chris Whiting created that documented their delivery and visit when he returned to the mainland by going to www.orcasislandf2c.org “events” page.
What a wonderful gift to our community. Thank you to Lowes, and to OIEF and Madie Murray for their great efforts on behalf of our school. Giving students access to good food that tastes great is changing lives. Great work!