Feeding the Future: Europe’s KMC School Meal Program Team Boasts More Than 1,000 Years of Service
Since 1955, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service has been feeding Warfighters’ children and the 80 employees from Europe’s Kaiserslautern Military Community Center school meal program have been serving the meals for an astounding combined 1,039 years.
“We have the most dedicated and loyal employees,” said Sonja Gates, the school meal program manager for KMC Consolidated Exchange. “They truly enjoy what they do, and it shows every day.”
Annelie Loritz has been welcoming the students at Sembach Elementary School for 40 years. She wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.
“It’s been a great joy of mine,” Loritz said. “I am privileged to work for a great organization that understands what family serving family means.”
Exchange associates with the school meal program in Vogelweh, Germany, are among the 80 employees across 12 schools in Europe who have been serving school meals for 1,039 years combined. Pictured from left are Alice Folk, Maricris Aldana, Katja Patterson, White Sunshine, Claudia Fatscher and Tanja Imler.
Gates is also one of the 80 employees from the 12 schools across Europe who have had the opportunity to serve the military community through the school meal program. In the 35 years that she has served, Gates said the staff— along with the students, have become her family.
“You can’t do this job for as long as we have if you truly don’t love what you are doing,” Gates said. “It’s more than a job and we are more than a staff who works together— we are a family.”
While 2020 proved to be challenging because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school meal program associates have not wavered in their support to their students. Whether it was providing grab-and-go meals or serving hot meals while following the COVID safety measures, the team worked in lockstep with Department of Defense Education Activity to keep students fed.
“There is no question that we have a great team serving our military community here,” said Col. Scott McFarland, commander of the Exchange’s Southwest Asia Region. “The associates’ hard work speaks volumes. They still have that same drive and passion as they did on that very first day of work— and for many that was more than 30 years ago.”
Despite the schools going virtual because of the pandemic, the team still managed to provide more than 566,930 meals for students during 2020.
“Through it all, we do what we can to make sure our students are still being taken care of,” Gates said. “They are our future and we are honored to be a part of that future.”
