It’s been three weeks since Broward County Public Schools started e-learning and the county is doing everything they can to make sure every student gets a nutritious meal at least twice a week.
Parents and grandparents in Broward lined up at Lake Forest Elementary in Pembroke Park this morning to get food for their kids.
“It helps me [get] good food for the children,” said Azucena, grandmother of nine.
“It costs a lot of money to go to the grocery store to buy stuff. I spend an average $200 per week,” said Laverne, mother of two.
Broward County Public Schools is providing grab-and-go meals twice a week for students enrolled at all elementary, middle and high schools in the county.
Meals are provided in bundles.
“Meal bundles are the same meals that our students would enjoy in the regular traditional cafeteria type line. So it’s all of their fan favorites. We’ve been able to move to make them as a grab-and-go style. So the way that we do that is we offer everything cold that way it can be reheated when you intend to heat it so it does preserve that quality,” said Zoe Crego, Registered Dietician at Broward County Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services.
Zoe Crego, registered dietitian for Broward County Public Schools says they’ve served over 2.6 million meals since March.
“My husband lost his job when the pandemic hit. So we’re kind of tight right now, so this helps a lot,” said Selina.
“Families, they’re facing hard times. With COVID, closures, people have lost jobs, we know that for some children these meals are the only nutritious meals that they’re receiving during the day. In Broward County over 64% of our students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals, which means that 64% of our students face some degree of food insecurity everyday,” said Zoe.
Zoe says families can pick up meals at any location, but encourage them to visit their registered schools.
“Even though we aren’t learning face-to-face, we do still hope that we see all of our students here to pick up meals at their favorite school, say hello to their favorite lunch lady, so we can continue to help provide nutritious meals and support student academic achievement, added Zoe.
Broward County Public Schools families are encouraged to apply for free and reduced priced meals at myschoolapps.com. The grab and go meal distribution will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am to 1pm and 3pm and 5pm. For more information, click here.
