Stanly County Schools to provide meal bundles during Spring Break

Published 10:38 am Friday, February 26, 2021

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In preparation for Spring Break (April 2-11), a six-day meal bundle consisting of six breakfasts, six lunches and six pints of milk will be available for pick-up at one of the four drive-through locations at the middle schools between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 1.

The meals must be pre-ordered by 4 p.m. March 19.

Parents can complete the form on the school system’s website to pre-order the meal bundles.

Over the past month, on each Friday, SCSĀ has also been distributing weekend meal kits to students and their families.

The kits, which can be delivered via the bus or be picked up through one of the drive-through locations at the four middle schools from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., consist of one hot meal, three breakfasts, two lunches and two pints of milk.

Though it varies each week, the lunch meals consist of four options: nacho meal kit, beef and cheese meal kit, chili con queso meal kit or cheese stick and marinara meal kit.

The school system orders all of its school meals through Gordon Food Service based in Kannapolis.

If a parent wants their child to receive meals but they do not have an established bus stop, they can call the transportation department at 704-961-5100 to find out the nearest bus stop location.

With all SCS students working remotely on Fridays, “we mainly felt like there was a need in the community for these weekend meals,” SCS Child Nutrition Director Mandy Melton said. “It was a way to provide for our children when they were not in the school building.”

Each successive Friday during February was busier than the last in terms of weekend meals distributed, Melton said. On Feb. 19, through both bus delivery and the four drive-through locations, the school system provided weekend meals to 2,031 children.

Since there will be no school on March 15 (Professional Day), the March 12 weekend delivery will include extra meals to cover the following Monday. So SCS will provide families with one hot meal, four breakfasts, three lunches and four pints of milk.

The middle schools are open for meal delivery each weekday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. From Monday through Thursday, families will receive one hot meal, one breakfast and one pint of milk.

For both the Spring Break offering and any of the meal kits throughout the week, any child in the county to age 18 is eligible at no cost through the end of June.

“You don’t necessarily have to go to your feeder middle school,” said Melton. “You can be a homeschool student, you can be a student that’s not in school and you can go to any of these locations and receive this service.”

Melton said from Monday through Thursday, around 400 meals are distributed each day at the four middle schools.

SCS has been providing meals to students since the pandemic first began in mid-March 2020. On the first day, the school system began distributing a warm lunch and nonperishable breakfast to students. On March 16, SCS delivered 5,300 meals, the highest number in the state.

About Chris Miller

Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.

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