When COVID-19 hit all Nutrition Education Program (NEP) classes came to a halt to protect the health of clients. The Lawrence County Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Senior Assistant started thinking about ways to reach clientele who would normally attend in-person Healthy Choices for Everybody classes. Not only were clients unable to attend classes on nutrition, but the unemployment rate jumped from 3.8% to 14.8%, creating a larger number of families with limited resources. With this in mind the EFNEP Senior Assistant started contacting area agencies for outreach opportunities. This resulted in partnership between the EFNEP Senior Assistant and Blaine Elementary Family Resource Service Coordinator (FRYSC), Fallsburg Elementary FRYSC, Louisa Elementary FRYSC, Louisa Middle School FRYSC, Lawrence County High School FRYSC, Mountain Comprehensive, and Pathways (“The Drop”).

Beginning in October 2020, various educational themed bags were assembled for families in Lawrence County communities. A total of 10 different deliveries were made with educational themes including “Science Activities” (using the science experiments found in Eat Smart, Play Hard tool kit), “Healthy Eating,” “Healthy Choices for Every Pregnant Body,” “Portion Control” (used for Halloween/Trick or Treat), “Turkey Safety” (which included a meat thermometer and instructions for cooking a Thanksgiving Dinner using best practices for food safety), “Reducing Sodium” (included how to make a salt-free all-purpose blend), “Cooking with Kids,” and “Fill Up on Fiber.” In total, 480 bags were distributed containing these resources reaching families and individuals across Lawrence County during the pandemic.