JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ky. — There are 4,488 boxes of afterschool snacks sitting in a refrigerator at Jefferson County Public Schools' Nutrition Services Center on Farmington Avenue.
Inside those boxes are 4,488 packages of string cheese, yogurt, fruit cups, animal crackers, juices and cartons of milk.
The boxes had been prepared last Friday, to be sent to schools across JCPS on Monday to be given to students participating in afterschool tutoring or activities.
But then school was cancelled Monday as a snow storm rolled across Louisville. School was cancelled again Tuesday. And Wednesday. And now Thursday.
If schools open Friday -- and at this point, that's looking like a big IF -- those boxes will be sent to schools. But if schools close, JCPS officials say some of that food may expire before students get back to classes.
"It's not millions of dollars of food, but it's more than we want to go in the trash," said Dan Ellnor, JCPS' manager of nutrition services. He said the meals cost $6,776.