During the past 30 years with YSD, Kramer has been instrumental in the development of several programs bettering the community, including the Sack Pack program and the Angel Fund.

The Sack Pack program provides nutritious, non-perishable and easy-to-prepare meals to children for the weekends.

“The school lunch is some kids’ only meal,” Kramer said. “We have volunteers who pack the sacks each week, and we really hope kids appreciate and like them. One of principals told me, if a kid is sick on a Friday, they won’t come in to get their homework, but they will show up to get their sack pack.”

The Angel Fund is a recently-added program to help students with overdrawn lunch accounts.

“Some kids just can’t ever get caught up,” she said. “I never want to turn away kids from getting a meal because they need money on their account, so we started a fund to help kids. People can donate to the fund, and we apply it to the accounts that need to be balanced. People would really be surprised how many high school kids have to pay for their own lunches.”

And sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that create an overdraft of a lunch account, Kramer said.

“A parent may be sick or something is going on. Everybody has a story. I just don’t want to take away food from a kid,” she said. “I had a girl in my office a few days ago who just couldn’t get caught up. She would be $20 overdrawn and bring in $20 and then be overdrawn again the next day. When I told her we would put money from the Angel Fund into her account to help her, she started to cry.”

Kramer said, when she started with the school district, she was told her program had to be self-sufficient. The money individuals pay for lunches and the funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s free and reduced lunch program are basically it.

“The only difference between a business and working in the school is that we are not always just about making money,” she said. “We want to provide a balanced, healthy meal. The kids are really our top priority.”

Of course, the funds from the Free and Reduced lunch program do not come without some strings attached.

“Each year the regulations change a bit,” she said. “It becomes more challenging to find items and rethink our menus to fit those guidelines. Next year, sodium will be a target, and kids now have to take a fruit or vegetable with each lunch. But next year, they will have to take one for breakfast, also. I spend a lot of time looking at labels and scrutinizing everything from whole grain content to calories to fat and sodium content.”

Of course, there is always some static when things change, Kramer said.

“It’s usually the older kids who are used to things being one way who are upset when they really like a product and we have to change the recipe or not offer it anymore,” she said. “For example, taking out the shake machines was a big deal for a lot of middle school and high school students. We just don’t have control over those regulations.”

Kramer has tried to find other ways to treat the students, though.

“We don’t really do desserts any more, so I have little paper trays that students can fill up with fruits and veggies if they are still hungry after their meal,” she said. “A lot of the older students, especially boys, are still hungry after their meal, so they will eat more fruit or lettuce to get them through. I think that’s a great habit for them to take into adulthood. So many kids don’t eat fruit and vegetables at home.”

Because Kramer saw there was a need to expose children to more fruits and vegetables and that children were hungry in the afternoon, she sought to bring a Fruit and Vegetable program to the district.

“The program provides a fruit or vegetable snack to elementary school students,” she said. “We really want to expose them to new foods they may not have seen before and get them in the habit of eating fruits and vegetables as a snack.”

Kramer also started the very successful Summer Food Program that provides a free lunch to any children who show up.

“The Summer Food Program is just fun,” she said. “The kids are so appreciative and the staff who work there during the summer say it is one of the favorite parts of their jobs. I love it because it’s a little more one-on-one with the kids than we get during the school year.”

As a direct testament to how innovative she is, Kramer was recently recognized as one of only five nationwide School Nutrition Heroes by the School Nutrition Association and its philanthropic arm, School Nutrition Foundation.

Kramer traveled to Washington, D.C., and was honored at a gala event in early March.

“It was a very nice night, but the best part was we received $1,000 for the Sack Pack program,” she said. “I also ended up sitting next to the CEO of Jennie-O Turkey and we began chatting.

Jennie-O ended up sending us coupons for turkey products to put into the Sack Packs.”

In addition to the cash award, Kramer said the attention for the Sack Pack program and the Angel Fund means more to her than the recognition.

“I have received several letters and congrats, and most of them have come with a donation to the Sack Pack or Angel Fund,” she said. “Raising awareness for the programs is really the best thing ever.”

Being involved in the outreach programs is personally rewarding also, Kramer said.

“There are so many great volunteers I get to meet with each week, and it is so much fun,” she said. “At the school I have great employees who help me and make me look good. It is the same with the boards and volunteers I work with it’s easy to look good when you have so many great people helping you.”

Although Kramer is helping others, she said she is also getting just as much back.

“When you get involved, you get back more than you’d ever imagine,” she said.