Children in Hopkinsville who rely on school meals for much of their nutrition during the week now have another option for weekends with food grab bags available in containers that previously held the community’s news.
Refurbished newspaper vending machines at six locations in town will be stocked with free food bags from the Hopkinsville-Christian County YMCA every Friday afternoon. The food is intended for residents who are 18 and younger.
The new use for idle newspaper machines bridges the past and present careers of YMCA President and CEO Sheryl Ellis. Before taking the leadership job at the YMCA, Ellis was the business manager for the Kentucky New Era newspaper when the company was locally owned by the Wood family.
After the family sold the paper to Paxton Media in late 2018 and the newspaper offices eventually moved downtown, former publisher Taylor Wood Hayes offered to let the YMCA have some furnishings from the New Era plant on East Ninth Street where Ellis had worked.
That’s when the idea surfaced to find a way to use the vending machines that had been left behind.
The Wood family agreed to donate several of the machines. Then the YMCA applied for an Arby’s Foundation grant and received $4,000 it can use to refurbish the machines. The metal boxes were sanded and got a new coat of paint. Some of the labor was provided by Christian County Jail inmates.
Ellis said Amanda Crutchfield, programs and outreach director for the YMCA, deserves much of the credit for organizing the new food delivery option for children.
“Amanda has a real heart for this,” Ellis said.
The food grab bags will be available in vending machines at the these locations:
- Aaron McNeil House at 604 E. Second St.
- Challenge House 1 at 1001 Central Ave.
- Challenge House 4 at 517 N. Elm St.
- Challenge House 5 at 2130 Crockett St.
- Restoration House at 101 McLean Ave.
- Freeman Chapel CME Church at 137 S. Virginia St.
Initially, each location will be loaded with 20 food bags containing nonperishable items like jars of peanut butter and canned fruits.
There are plans to eventually add more locations, said Ellis.
The YMCA also distributes food backpacks in several public schools in Christian County — another effort to make sure children have nutrition on weekends.
Crutchfield said the backpack program feeds about 2,000 children a week. Each backpack sent home with a child on the weekend has three dinners, two breakfasts, four snacks and two drinks.
The YMCA also provides hot meals to children at YMCA, at Challenge Houses, at local churches and through additional school programs.
“On average, we feed about 8,000 children every month,” Crutchfield said.
Ellis said community groups that want to partner with YMCA by helping with food costs or labor should contact Crutchfield at 270-887-5382.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
