When Shelby County Schools announced Thursday morning that it was closing schools through March 30 as a precaution against the new coronavirus, community agencies immediately jumped in to make sure students would not go hungry without school-provided meals.
Collections and food drives have already popped up, with more likely to follow as Memphis schools are closed for more than two weeks. Shelby County Schools is working to finalize a plan to prepare takeaway lunches beginning March 23. Most of the district’s students live in poverty and depend on breakfast and lunches served at school. At least one charter school network is also planning to hand out lunch to students for a week.
“School closings mean lack of routine, food, and safety for many children,” reads a Facebook post from after-school ministry Arrow’s Nest.
Though she understands the effort behind stopping the spread of COVID-19, White Station High School student Zoey Brewer said on Twitter that the community must put as much effort into mitigating the effects of school closures.
“If we want to keep SCS students healthy, they must have access to food,” she said.
Below is a running list of Memphis community resources we’ve heard of. Let us know what you’re hearing by emailing us at tn.tips@chalkbeat.org, and we will continue to update this list.
- Shelby County Schools plans to prepare takeaway lunches at several county locations from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. beginning March 23. Details are still being worked out, but a statement said the distribution was the “least-risky exposure” for students and families.
- Freedom Preparatory Academy and Green Dot Public Schools plan to provide bag lunches at all of their campuses starting March 23, after spring break, from 11 a.m.-noon.
- The Mid-South Food Bank is assembling 14-day food boxes with nonperishable food for low-income families and other vulnerable populations. Find your nearest food pantry here. Donations can be made online.
- Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) does not have a student-focused plan, but will deliver an additional week of meals to all its clients. They are encouraging families applying for emergency assistance to begin that process online, if possible, to limit traffic at their building.
- Hope House Memphis is collecting food and cleaning supplies for its clients Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.-noon.
- Communities in Schools officials, which are based in schools, said in an email that “we are anticipating this as a need and expect to connect families with community partners to provide food.”
- Arrow’s Nest, an after-school ministry, is collecting snacks and canned goods for children in the program and their families. Contact Carol Unrine at Carolunrine@hotmail.com for locations to drop off.
- Dorothy Day House, a temporary housing for homeless families, will have up to 19 children at the house who normally would get meals at school. Food items such as milk, bread, eggs, lunch meat are being accepted along with monetary donations.
Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Laura Faith Kebede and Jacinthia Jones on March 12, 2020. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.