It’s been 60 years since Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools built the Craig Avenue Warehouse. The building has grown and modernized along with the district and in June moved solely under School Nutrition Services to store and distribute most of the food and beverages for students and staff at the district’s 185 schools.

“(School Nutrition) had maybe two employees here before, but all the other employees in support fell under Distribution,” said Patricia Sharpe, School Nutrition warehouse director. “The drivers would deliver food, but they also delivered supplies. Now we’re separate since most of the work here was delivering food and housing of food. We’re responsible for it.”

The building now has about 25 employees – including warehouse workers and drivers – who report to School Nutrition. While they are

not required to have the food safety certifications the department’s administrators and cafeteria workers have, they do have classes where they receive all of that information.

“It’s been an eye-opener for them,” Sharpe said. “This setup is better because we’re able to control things. They were doing a great job before, but they didn’t understand food, and we’re the food professionals. So we’re able to train, teach and educate about food safety and give them that understanding.”

The warehouse itself has seen many changes over the years to keep pace with the growth of CMS and new programs. The original facility had 1,430 square feet of cooler space and 1,447 square feet of freezer space for the lunch program served at 109 schools.

School Nutrition has since added breakfast, summer food, a la carte, snack and supper programs, and is growing its participation in the NC Farm to School program for more fresh fruit and vegetable options. The warehouse has an 8,000-square-foot freezer (think minus 10 degrees and below) – where employees work bundled in layered cold-weather gear – and now has two new walk-in cooler spaces that add about 3,600 square feet.

Kenneth Staten and Randall Carson are the self-described yin and yang, working with the two sides of School Nutrition’s food and warehouse operations. Staten has worked with the CMS Warehouse department for 32 years and was a part-time bus driver for nine years before that. He said it wasn’t a hard decision to move exclusively to School Nutrition.

“It’s the people; it’s the kids,” Staten said. “It’s making sure the kids get all the things they need, all their nutrients. That’s the most important thing, because some kids only get one meal a day. Now I can focus on the needs, and we have people in here who care and are more focused on food. We have a strong team here, and it works.”

Carson retired in 2024 after 25 years with CMS, where he was a cafeteria manager responsible for multiple sites. He said he decided to come back to CMS to try and make a difference and to help in any capacity he can.

“I think this is great. It helps with different areas, like building our own culture of accountability,” Carson said. “We are improving on some of the processes of inventory, and it’s just exciting to be a part of the growth in this particular area.”