Last week, when only a handful of American schools had closed due to the COVID crisis, I wrote a Civil Eats story exploring the potential impact of these closures on the school meal program: Millions of lower-income kids rely on school food for daily nutrition, so what would happen when even more cafeterias were shuttered?*
Well, just one week later, we’ve sailed past “potential impact” into a harsh new reality—one in which school meal service now looks like this:
And this:
And this:
But photos like these can’t fully capture the incredible efforts of school food professionals around the country, who are doing everything they can to make sure low-income children are still fed in this crisis. On the TIPS for Schools Meals That Rock Facebook page, where school food workers regularly compare notes and offer each other support, recent entries reflect their intense determination—but also their bone-deep exhaustion and understandable worry about their own health.
If your family doesn’t need emergency meals, you may not be aware of these heroic efforts going on in your community. So I reached out to Dayle Hayes and Jeanne Reilly, who together run the TIPS page, to ask them what school food professionals would like the general public to know—and what we can do to support them.
They responded: “School nutrition professionals are, now more than ever before, on the front lines of feeding the future. They are literally putting their lives at risk to serve to-go meals for millions of children across the country. They are the first responders ensuring that children are being fed balanced meals to help them maintain their health and well-being.“
They suggested that we follow the TIPS for School Meals That Rock to see “the amazing things that schools are doing,” and they also suggested we provide direct donations to Share Our Strength or to our local emergency food banks and food pantries. “In higher income districts,” they added, “they may also welcome cash donations because they might not be able to operate under the summer feeding guidelines and families who are quarantined may need meals or backpacks. Call first and ask what they need most.”
Those are all great suggestions, but I have one more to add:
Would you please sign and share this Thank You Card for America’s School Food Workers? It takes only a few seconds to fill out and it will show these dedicated men and women that WE SEE THEM AND THANK THEM for everything they’re doing for our most vulnerable kids:
Finally, if you’re a school food professional reading this post, here are two important resources you should know about:
- Dayle, Jeanne, and School Nutrition Association president Gay Anderson will be hosting a webinar on March 25th at 2pm ET on “Tips for Effective Communication with Your Community During COVID-19 School Closures.” The link to register is here.
- No Kid Hungry has just announced that it is offering $5 million in emergency grants to school districts and organizations feeding children in their communities. You can apply for a grant here.
Thank you everyone, and stay safe!
______
* Since my Civil Eats piece was published, President Trump has signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which, among other things, provides $500 million to the WIC program, $400 million for food banks, and gives families eligible for free or reduced price school meals an EBT card to use to purchase food on their own, once their school is closed for at least five days. The new law also cuts red tape to make it easier to serve school meals and to provide WIC and SNAP benefits to families in need.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020 Bettina Elias Siegel
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