How to help distribute free meals to Muscogee students during coronavirus closure
Patricia Allen, a former prekindergarten teacher and retired military service member, normally drives her two grandchildren and five other kids to school and back home to their Ashley Station neighborhood each weekday.
But now that schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, she is taking care of all seven children throughout their days while their parents are at work.
She doesn’t have to worry about how she will feed lunch to all of them during the next two weeks, because the Muscogee County School District is continuing its free lunch program by distributing the meals at alternative sites.
Thanks to about two dozen volunteers who met Tuesday morning at the Muscogee County Public Education Center, MCSD school nutrition workers had help packing those 2,500 bags and handing 1,278 of them to grateful families.
And thanks to individual donations of about 100 books through the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, children who got their lunch Tuesday at Fox Elementary School also got something to read with their meal.
“It’s great for the kids,” Allen told the Ledger-Enquirer. “The moms don’t have to prepare a meal for them when she has to work, and I could just do something to help out and keep everybody safe. That’s the main thing — and make sure they’re fed.”
When MCSD announced Saturday that it would close its 56 school sites, some folks in the community contacted district officials and asked how they could help.
“It’s just a movement that started and has really blossomed,” MCSD nutrition director Susan Schlader told the L-E. “… It’s so heartwarming, and it’s just overwhelming that there are so many people that are here for our kids.”
The volunteers aren’t allowed to prepare the food — school nutrition workers must do that — but they could help pack the bags and hand them to recipients. Tuesday, the bags contained:
- Turkey sub sandwich
- Broccoli with dip
- Peach cup
- Whole grain chips
- Milk
In the school district, 77% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. At Fox, that rate is 100%, so principal Yvette Scarborough knows closing school can harm children beyond their education.
“Being able to be the resource that our community needs is one of the most important things we do,” she told the L-E. “We don’t only educate our children; we take care of them and every need they have basically.”
All of which motivated Karen Cook, development officer for Media, Marketing and More, to be among the volunteers Tuesday.
“Those of us that may not be as busy as we were two weeks before this hit,” she told the L-E, “if we have an opportunity to give back to the community, we have to do it — and especially when it comes to children.”
Out of the 27 communities she has lived with her military family, Cook ranks Columbus as the most generous.
“I just think it’s a remarkable blessing to live in a city like Columbus that just jumps in and takes care of their own,” she said.
HOW TO HELP
To volunteer and help distribute free lunches to children while schools are closed due to the coronavirus, Muscogee County School District nutrition director Susan Schlader said to call her at 706-748-3219 or email her at schlader.susan.c@muscogee.k12.ga.us.
Books also can be donated to go along with the free lunches through the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation at 214 10th Street in downtown Columbus. Call ahead 706-660-9702 to be sure someone will be there to receive them, said MEEF executive director Marquette McKnight.
MCSD free lunch sites
The Muscogee County School District will extend free meal services for students during the system-wide closure March 17-27. Meals will be available, through a grab-and-go service, to all children enrolled in any K-12 educational setting. Students must be present to receive a meal, according to MCSD’s news release.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 4:20 PM.
