New York
A TEACHER has been hailed a hero for walking more than five miles a day to deliver packed lunches to disadvantaged children during the coronavirus pandemic.
An assistant headteacher has come up with his own unique solution to ensuring his pupils still have access to free school meals – by walking more than five miles every day to deliver them by hand.
Zane Powles, who works at Western Primary School in Grimsby, northeast Lincolnshire, hauls huge rucksacks filled with packed school meals that weigh more than 18kg plus homework for at least 78 students each day.
During his daily 1 hour and 45 minute deliveries, the 47-year-old knocks on the door and leaves the parcel on the front step before waiting at a safe distance until the sandwich bag is picked up.
The former soldier, who was part of the Grenadier Guards, also uses his daily lunch runs to check on the welfare of the children he visits.
Basically, to make sure he remains within social distance guidelines, the local hero puts the packed lunch on the doorstep, knocks, and waits on their sidewalk until he sees the lunch is picked up.
Headteacher Kim Leach and another teacher take turns to bring an additional 25 lunches by car to families who live further afield on a 15-mile round trip every day.
Zane, said: “It’s about making sure vulnerable kids get at least one decent meal.
“People are risking their lives on the front line or delivering medicines as a volunteer, and I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do to help where I can.
“It’s important that I’m doing my bit in the national effort — as we go through this crisis as a country together.
“Hand-delivering the lunches is a better way than parents coming into the school as it’s all about reducing the risk of the virus spreading.”
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