INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts were hard at work Tuesday, but this time, it wasn't on the gridiron.
They spent the day transforming school kitchens around Indianapolis, connecting kids with fresher, healthier, high quality foods.
It's making a major impact with students here in the city.
Lunchtime at Emma Donnan Elementary School looks and tastes a little bit different these days. The school is one of three taking a new approach to meals, thanks to the Patachou Foundation and the Colts.
Colts owner Jim Irsay and his family gave a $1 million gift to support Pata School, a program designed to meet childhood hunger demands.
One in five students in Indianapolis deals with food insecurities.
"It's not just the money. It's working together and having people willing to get out in front of it and have the ideas and have the concepts in place so that we can put our money to good work," said Kalen Jackson, Colts owner and vice chair. "It's important for, obviously, the obvious reasons, but I think when you think of kids and your community, those are the most important ones."
Pata School and the Colts will serve 1.2 million meals to 3,500 students in Indianapolis over the next five years. It's just the start.
The program was the dream of Patachou Foundation owner Martha Hoover.
"We think every school deserves, all the kids in school deserve nutritious meals that help them academically, physically and emotionally, and I think we could dream as big as we possibly can, given the lack of resources," Hoover said.
Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said he learned the importance of good food years ago.
"I used to have to come in the cafeteria and I couldn't eat the school lunch because there was no healthy options, so just knowing that they won't have to face those type of same situations and they'll be not only getting good food but learning more about new foods that they weren't even introduced to would be awesome," said Franklin.
One bite at a time, the Pata School and the Colts are making kids smile through nutritious food.