Mama Burke’s Crew: Cookies, Faith and Family

What makes a good lunch? Is it how the food tastes, or the staff that cooks it?

For Holy Family, it’s both.

From the delicious cookies and chicken sandwiches, to the lunch ladies who remember your name and talk and joke around with you while serving chicken dinner, we are the lucky few of the high school lunch community.

As someone who previously attended a public middle school, I know what bad lunches look like.

From pizza with cheese, that doesn’t even look like cheese, to loose vegetables rolling around in some watery liquid, they were bad news.

That’s why coming to Holy Family, and experiencing their lunches, was like a miracle to me. Everyday you walk into the lunch room, and you are hit with the smell of whatever delicious entrée is being made that day.

And the fact that the lunch ladies are all so kind, whether they’ve been working at the school for many years now, or just in their second year, is incredible. They work so hard for all of us students, and we don’t even realize it.

Here’s what Mama Burke has to say…

Q: How has the year been so far for the lunch staff coming off of the Covid year?

A: It’s back to normal, but we’re experiencing some shortages in not just the food, but in the drinks too. We’ve been struggling to get drinks to fill up the cooler. Nobody has anything, but my ladies have been working hard to go out and get you guys drinks and snacks. We’re back, and we’re good, other than that we’re missing Amy dearly.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about the working in the lunch room?

A: Oh the kids. Definitely the kids. They’re the reason we do what we do, no matter how hard it is.

Q: What does a normal day in the lunch room look like for you guys?

A: Most of us get here around six in the morning, and in a day like today, we are up until 11:oo. we’re pretty busy back there making lots of food for you guys. Then an easy day is like a sandwich day, then on Friday late starts we get to arrive around 7 a.m. and sleep in a little bit. It’s non-stop until the first lunch, then we get to work the register and slow down a bit.

Our lunch ladies are one of the rocks of this school. They give us more than we deserve, and for that I know we are all thankful. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the lunch staff, Amy Meyer’s family, and anyone that knew her.