Kelli Bruner stands outside Helmsburg Elementary School next to a table full of food and a cooler full of milk. A Jeep pulls up, and two sets of tiny hands wave excitedly at the principal they have missed.

Bruner greets 7-year-old Elise and 6-year-old Ryder Hunter from afar before handing two sacks and two milk cartons through the passenger side window.

The Brown County Literacy Coalition also donated books for each child, so they also got those with their free breakfasts and lunches.

“They have missed their school routine a lot,” said their mom, Brooke Hunter.

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“More than anything it’s a chance to get out and see the faces they’ve missed.”

Brown County Schools have been closed to students and almost all staff since March 13, the last day before spring break. The schools now will not reopen until at least May 1 as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents are instructed to stay home, and schools and non-essential businesses are closed.

Last week, Brown County Schools began the free meal program for all students regardless of whether or not they were on free or reduced lunch while school was in session.

“They prioritized the kids No. 1. Without a doubt, it is about the kids, and it’s so awesome. They’re just happy to see familiar faces,” Brooke Hunter said about the school district.

Brown County Schools will provide a “grab and go” breakfast and lunch at four locations across the district until at least May 1 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: Helmsburg Elementary School, Sprunica Elementary School, Van Buren Elementary School and Brown County High School.

Schools are staffed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for meals to be picked up. The schools will not be open for any other purpose than meal distribution.

Meals also will be available for pick-up from a school bus at Forest Hills Apartments and the Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department.

Previously, there was a drop-off at the Bean Blossom Trailer Court, but it was moved to the Fruitdale VFD because the bus delivering the meals had trouble turning around. The delivery time there will be between 11:15 and 11:45 a.m.

A school bus will deliver meals to Forest Hills between approximately 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The bus will honk the horn when it gets there.

Families can pick up enough food on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to get through the “off” days, including meals for the weekend.

A week’s worth of meals can also be delivered to homes on Mondays if families are homebound, because someone in the home is showing signs of the virus or has a significantly compromised immune system.

Parents were asked initially to register for meals, but at this point, sign-up is not needed, Superintendent Laura Hammack said last week.

While she’s at school to hand out meals, Bruner has been updating the Helmsburg Elementary School Facebook page with updates on the building, including videos of the Helmsburg Tiger walking around and checking on the classrooms.

It’s difficult when Bruner’s students come through the food pick-up line and they cannot really interact with each other.

“They just want to get out and hug you, and you can’t. That’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do is not be able to hug them,” she said.

“I had a little girl and she was bouncing at the window and I’m like, ‘I can’t hug you.’ She’s like, ‘I want to hug you.’ I’m like, ‘I know, baby.’”

On the second day of the free meal program, Bruner had served 24 meals as of 11 a.m. The first day, she handed out 85 meals.

“We’re having a great time, and it’s fun to see all of them. It’s like a little parade of kids going by,” she said.

Bruner said she is mostly seeing Helmsburg students and families coming to grab meals. She had a woman stop by who was making deliveries in the area and lived in Indianapolis, and asked what she was doing.

“I said, ‘Do you have kids?’ She said, ‘Yeah, I have three.’ I said. … I handed her three meals and she thanked me tremendously. I said, ‘Brown County Schools are a great place to be.’ This is what we do,” Bruner said.

While handing out the meals, Bruner said she heard from one family who was in need of extra assistance and she directed them to local food pantries.

“One guy stopped by and he said ‘It’s just easier to stop here then drive all the way into town. My kids don’t go to school here.’ I said, ‘That’s OK. It’s fine. That’s why we’re doing it in these outlying buildings so that you don’t have to drive very far.’ He was appreciative,” Bruner said.

“I’m just thankful for our community. I think everybody has really stepped up.”

Kera Hayworth is a teacher in Brown County. She says the meal program is a “lifesaver” because she has had difficulty finding essentials, like lunch meat, bread and eggs, in grocery stores. She knows it’s also a lifesaver for people who do not have money for groceries or the ability to get out to shop.

“When I was kid, I remember we didn’t eat unless it was school lunch, honestly. I’m probably going to tear up. If it wasn’t the food bank or it wasn’t breakfast at school or it wasn’t a lunch at school, we didn’t eat,” she said.

“I know. These kids, there’s a lot of them that don’t have that.”

Helmsburg teacher Cortney Hitchcock did not initially sign up for the program because her family is able to buy groceries, but she decided to take part in it after she noticed store supplies were getting low.

“We’re trying to not go to the store, so I’m like, ‘Why don’t we utilize what the school is giving us?’ If you’re giving it, utilize it, and it will help maintain what we already have and minimize our need to go to the store,” she said.

At Van Buren Elementary School, Kitchen Manager Robyn Back, Principal Gavin Steele and Brown County Junior High School Principal Brian Garman wait outside to help serve families who pull up.

In the sack lunch that day was a ham and cheese sandwich, broccoli, a banana and a carton of milk. For breakfast, the kids received a cereal box, apple and another carton of milk.

On the first day, VBE served 42 meals. On the second day at about noon, 51 meals had been served. At Forest Hills and at the trailer court, BCS Food Service Director Don Hymer estimated around 30 or so meals had been served at each location.

“It’s probably going to keep growing,” Hymer said.

“We started on day one with over 400 meals, from going right at it day one back from break. For breakfast and lunch, the total was 800 on day one.”

Steele said he had heard overwhelming thanks from the families they have helped so far.

“It’s great to at least have some visual connections with some of the families, just reassuring we’re here for whatever they need. If we don’t have the answers, then we’ll find people that do,” he said.

Anyone with a child younger than 18 can come to the meal locations for food.

The Van Buren Elementary School PTO is also working with Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department to put together “Love Bags” for kids that will be handed out each Monday. Last week’s bag featured snacks along with literature and coloring pages about fire safety. Kids also received pencils and crayons.

“We’re going to have a lot of kids being inside for an extended period of time right now that it may be a good idea to get literature and coloring stuff home just to reiterate, ‘Hey when we start to get bored it’s important to not to be messing with fire,’” Steele said.

Rose Games pulled up to Van Buren to pick up two meals for her two daughters, aged 4 and 10. A friend had told her about the program after she expressed worry about not having enough food for her children during the shut down of many businesses.

“It’s amazing. As long as my kids are fed and they have something, I’m very grateful, I’m very happy,” she said.

“It means a lot to me that people are willing to go out of their way to do this.”