Southern Illinois News

Even before orders from Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushed all Illinois schools to remote learning, Chicago area schools and schools across the state were ramping up plans to continue getting meals to students who receive nutritional assistance through school.

At Vienna High School, Superintendent Joshua Stafford recently posted a photo to Facebook, and praised volunteers and others in the community who have stepped up to make certain students remain fed.

This is just a snapshot that represents a loving, caring, and dedicated community!” Stafford said in the post. 

Stafford also noted the support that came from JRuiz Construction, which made a donation of $1,000, and the school staff and community volunteers who are not only working distribution points, but even delivering some meals.

Stafford revealed some challenges faced by schools as they try to get the meals out to students rather than serving them at central locations such as schools. Even custodial staff have become involved in helping to sanitize the boxes meals are packed into.

In the greater Chicago area, more than 75% of students quality for free meals due to being economically disadvantaged, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Even once the federal government gave Chicago Public Schools (CPS) permission to distribute meals to students outside of the school setting--rules normally require the meals be distributed in a congregated setting--CPS then had to figure out how to get those meals to the 355,000 affected students.

While boxes containing three days of breakfast and lunch for each student can be picked up from CPS school locations between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., some families cannot make the trip to the pickup locations.

In those cases, volunteers have been stepping up, taking meals often to distant locations so that students can continue to receive the nutritional benefits of the program.