Mike Wondel, the lead pastor at Church of the Shepherd, ladles soup into the bowl of a young student. The young student smiles up at Wondel, happy to have a meal on a day that they normally would have gone hungry. Many families rely on schools to provide food for their children, so when FHSD had to have AMI (Alternative Methods of Instruction) school days due to a cyber attack, many were left without a meal. On Wed, Feb. 21, Church of the Shepherd invited all FHSD families without a lunch to eat at their church. In order to pull off this event, the administrators of this event had to think on their feet.

“Last week when FHSD canceled classes, we heard it was an unexpectedly stressful week for our students, staff, and faculty,” Wondel said. “We already had a lunch scheduled on Wednesday for the church, and someone thought we should invite students and their families to join us if they wanted to.”

Similarly, the St. Charles City-County libraries pitched in to support FHSD students during the unexpected cancellation. Diana Tucker, branch manager of the Kisker Road library, explained how the libraries helped support students by allowing them to print schoolwork for free.

“The library waived all printing fees for students and their families,” Tucker said. “As some of the course packets were pretty lengthy, printing fees could add up quickly, even at ten cents a page.”
Tucker, though unsure of exactly how many students took advantage of free printing, estimated that around 100 students and their families did. Wondel was also able to estimate how many people the church was able to reach with their kindness as he dove into the specifics of the lunch.

“We had four types of soup – chicken noodle, tomato, potato, and chicken tortilla – along with salad, chips and hot dogs. Some families chose to take the soups to go, while others ate lunch, played games, played on the playground and hung out at the church,” Wondel said. “We had about 40 students, plus parents, come for lunch.”

Wondel explained that Church of the Shepherd decided to open this lunch up to FHSD students simply because it was the right thing to do.
“When the school cancellation was announced, one of the Francis Howell School Board candidates called with the idea of offering lunch for students in the community,” Wondel said. “We thought it was a great idea, and it seems like the type of thing Jesus calls us to do.”
While the Church of the Shepherd welcomed new faces from the district, St. Charles City-County libraries aimed to grow an existing relationship with FHSD students.

“The library already has a partnership with the schools in the form of student library cards, and the library values this partnership as education is very important,” Tucker said. “By waiving printing fees and reminding everyone of the student library cards, the library was able to support the school and the students in this minor way, and hopefully strengthen our partnership with the school.”

Both the Church of the Shepherd and the library shared that their heart behind hosting these events was to alleviate the stress that AMI days brought upon many students and families.

“I hope we shared hope and kindness and had fun along the way,” Wondel said. “We are grateful for our FHSD leaders who helped spread the word.”

Tucker expressed a similar sentiment in her final comments.
“The library was able to help students and FHSD families by waiving fees that could have been cost prohibitive for students, and teachers as well,” Tucker said. “Hopefully waiving printing fees helped to alleviate a little bit of stress in an already stressful situation.”