Paul Diemand, a cafeteria assistant at Leeds School in Northampton, pushes a cart past an illustration featuring the “Lunch Lady” from the book series of the same name by author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, in the JFK Middle School kitchen Thursday. Friday, May 1, is School Lunch Hero Day, a national celebration of the cafeteria workers who prepare healthy meals for students. Now in its eighth year, it’s a project of the School Nutrition Association.
Paul Diemand, a cafeteria assistant at Leeds School in Northampton, pushes a cart past an illustration featuring the “Lunch Lady” from the book series of the same name by author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, in the JFK Middle School kitchen Thursday. Friday, May 1, is School Lunch Hero Day, a national celebration of the cafeteria workers who prepare healthy meals for students. Now in its eighth year, it’s a project of the School Nutrition Association. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

FLORENCE — Northampton School food service workers prepared meal packages in the cafeteria of JFK Middle School on Thursday morning and loaded them on buses for the weekly Tuesday/Thursday distributions of meals to school-age children at four sites around the city. Friday, May 1, is School Lunch Hero Day, a national celebration of the cafeteria workers who prepare healthy meals for students. Now in its eighth year, it’s a project of the School Nutrition Association.

Kevin Gutting can be reached at kgutting@gazettenet.com.