All of us here at School Food and Wellness Group hope you are staying safe and healthy during these unusual times. In the midst of all the craziness going on in the world, we have seen our schools and food vendors go above and beyond to make sure students all over the country have access to meals. We know these are unprecedented times, and we are in awe of everyone’s efforts and hard work to ensure these families have access to food. Thank you from our team to yours!

Serving Meals During School Closure

If you are currently serving meals during your school’s closure or are interested in serving now that the dates have extended and have not reached out to us - please don’t hesitate! Each state has its own guidelines and requirements to serve meals to families, and we are happy to help you complete all necessary steps to get approved and reimbursement for meals served. Read below about an overview of compliance for serving meals during closure.

Compliance During Closures

Even though schools are closed until further notice, filling out proper waivers and continuing following compliance should not be overlooked. 

A quick overview of the serving meals while closed:

• You must serve and claim as SSO or SFSP, each state has a different set of requirements determining which one you are eligible to serve under
• You must submit a waiver with the state and recieve approvals
• You must count meals on the official SSO or SFSP meal count forms provided by the state (all forms must be kept on file for 3 years + the current year, as with all other food program paperwork)
• You can serve meals to all children 18 years or younger - regardless of the school they attend
• You can hand out multiple meals at a time, i.e. breakfast + lunch together, or multiple days of meals in one day
• All meals served will be claimed and reimbursed at the free rate

What Our Schools Are Doing!

In the midst of all this craziness, schools are working hard to set up meal pick up stations to get local families access to compliant meals! Read about some of our schools below:

iLEAD, Los Angeles, CA:

With FreshStart's help, iLEAD California is now serving more than 4,000 free breakfasts and lunches per week to anyone 18 years old and younger and their parents who need a helping hand. The response has been heartwarming, as relayed by the iLEAD staff and volunteers who serve the meals:

“Several of the parents have thanked me and said that they look forward to picking up their meals because it's the best part of their day. And everyday several of the learners yell out of their cars, ‘We miss you!!".

Scholarship Prep, Southern California:

As an organization with three schools operating in three counties, they are currently serving approximately 1,760 meals a week. The original food vendors have been able to continue providing meals and have even been able to increase the number of meals they are able to provide to meet the needs of the community. SP is thrilled to be able to provide these meals to scholars, their siblings, and children within their communities.

Thrive Academy, Baton Rouge, LA:

Thrive Academy has utilized their busing system to distribute meals directly out to their students. Every Monday, a bus arrives with educational packets and five days worth of meals. They did not want to leave any families worried about meal service who may not have transportation to get to a school site. 

Chicago International Charter School, Chicago, IL:

CICS foodservice vendor Aramark is producing grab and go meals at two of their 14 Chicago campuses which span over 30 miles from North to South Chicago.  Meals are satellited to 8 elementary campuses for distribution curb-side and the network is averaging 4400 meals per day. Meal counts have steadily increased with outreach on social media, robocalls and texts to families, as well as onsite signage that directs families to the distribution point. Check out the photos below of the meal pick up set up!

LEARN Charter Network, Chicago, IL:

LEARN has partnered with Midwest meal provider Gourmet Gorilla to home deliver meals to families in the network.  Families have the option to “opt-in” and provide their address and number of children in the household under the age of 18 along with a mobile contact number.  Multiple days of meals are delivered to their doorstep and a text to the family indicates they have arrived. To date, over 1000 students are receiving meals each day. 

Yellowstone College Prep Houston, TX: 

Yellowstone College Prep is currently serving meals from 2 bus routes throughout Houston and locally on-site from the school with the help of their vendor is Healthy Lunch Box. They are currently serving 700 breakfasts and 700 lunches a day and will are in the process of adding weekend meals as well!

What Our Vendors Are Doing!

Gourmet Gorilla based in Chicago

Combating hunger and helping kids stay healthy has never been more important. Gourmet Gorilla has implemented home meal kit deliveries for schools during the Covid-19 crisis.  Making sure kids are fed while they are virtual learning is as easy as receiving a text from a Gourmet Gorilla driver, notifying families that their meals are at their front door. Students receive over a week of meals at a time.  Gourmet Gorilla is facilitating thousands of meals via home delivery in Chicago and shipping truckloads of shelf stable meals to self-operated and managed districts across the Midwest who have lost most of their staffing capacity due to lack of PPE, sickness or social distancing. The photos below show a family's stocked fridge of Gourmet Gorilla meals and a home delivery of food!

Preferred Meals with locations nationally

Preferred Meals has almost tripled the number of schools they are servicing throughout the nation by utilizing their 5 day meal kits. Every day they are adding more schools and thus increasing their orders, but as of two weeks ago they had 180,000 pallets ordered - that’s equal to 16,200,000 meal kits which is 162,000,000 meals! The great thing about these meal cases is students only need to come once per week to pick up a week’s worth of meals! Safer for them and the school staff. 

Top Notch Catering based in Southern California

Top Notch is currently serving about 3,000 lunches and 2,200 breakfasts per day in Southern California!. On a typical week, they normally do about 4,500 lunches and 1,500 breakfasts per day.

Red Rabbit based in NYC

Over the past two weeks, Red Rabbit has delivered over 80,000 meals to those in need through a couple different methods:

1. Mobile Student Pick Up Sites: Currently operating in Manhattan & the Bronx; and launching in Brooklyn this week, these trucks provide a free breakfast and lunch to any student in the community, and are sponsored by a few of their amazing Charter school partners: Global Community Charter, Public Prep & Coney Island Prep
2. World Central Kitchen: Red Rabbit has partnered with Jose Andres's non profit, mobilizing their kitchen to help serve the most vulnerable populations: seniors & the homeless. This week they'll be serving nearly 25k meals and working with local restaurants to distribute directly to those in need.
3. Convenient Meal Packs: Red Rabbit is working with a number of nonprofits including food banks and community childcare providers to offer convenient and safe packs of their fresh chilled meals. This week they are sending out packs for 3000 families.

Photos below of children picking up meals, and an example of one of their warm lunches!

Three O'Clock Project

You may have already heard about the non-profit our CEO Emily started. Read on to hear how Three O’Clock Project (referred to as TOP) has helped feed kids during the Coronavirus!

All Louisiana public schools were required to shut their doors to prevent the spread of the virus and for the safety of their staff. This means that thousands of children in Louisiana lost access to their free and reduced-priced school meals, leaving them unsure of where their daily meals would come from. 

We quickly devised a plan and put it to action, partnering with school districts across the state to either support their efforts or step in and feed their kids through a partnership. We have partnered with local restaurants and food truck owners, hiring 350 service industry staff to cook and package meals at Celtic Studios commercial kitchen. In East Baton Rouge, we have created the state's first mobile meals delivery system, providing 15,000+ free breakfasts and lunches per day along 8 routes to help reach families who do not have transportation.

In addition, we've also partnered with Jefferson Parish Schools, Iberville Parish, Assumption Parish, Ascension Parish, Lafayette Parish, Acadia Parish and St. Landry Parish, providing and serving meals at grab and go sites, as their school kitchens were too small for employees to comply with CDC guidelines and staff safety become a concern, shutting down their programs. We will be serving 30,000 breakfast and lunch for seven days of the week across these Parishes.

Three O'clock Project is incredibly honored and proud to partner with so many school district Child Nutrition programs - and help them to continue to feed the families in their communities. We know how passionate school food employees are, and we are honored to carry their torch during these shut downs, while keeping their staff safe. 

Exciting News about Three O'Clock Project

On April 9th, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana approved the first grant from the Governor’s COVID-19 Response Fund, a gift that will help a nonprofit feed thousands of children through the summer across South Louisiana. Governor’s Fund issued a $100,000 grant to the Three O’Clock Project, which expanded its meal distribution services after some public school systems shuttered their cafeterias. With this new grant, we can can increase our reach across the parishes to serve 30,000 plus kids a day. In addition to the Governor's grant, Three O'Clock Project was also awarded $50,000 from No Kid Hungry and $50,000 from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana.

Mobile Meals and Feeding Sites

Kids 18 & under, or their guardians, can grab free breakfast and hot lunch every day from our delivery sites. The meals include 2 oz of protein, whole grains, vegetables, fresh fruit and milk. The menu changes weekly and meals are prepared fresh every day at our central kitchen for East Baton Rouge. We have partnered with Food Service companies in New Orleans to deliver fresh meals out to Jefferson Parish sites - Fresh Food Factor. We are so thankful for all our partners. How to help: Feeding the children of our state during the COVID-19 crisis has been a community effort supported by local businesses, volunteers, and generous donations. We could not do this without the support of our amazing Louisiana community. Click here to help support our efforts!

COVID-19 Funding Grants Available

• No Kid Hungry Grant: https://www.nokidhungry.org/coronavirus-grant-request
• GENYOUth Grant: https://covid-19.genyouthnow.org/
• Monterey County, California Grant: https://www.cfmco.org/nonprofits/grants/covid-19-relief-grants/
• Massachusetts COVID Grant: http://eosfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eos-C-19-Emergency-Grant-Fund-Press-Release.pdf

Email Raheli (raheli@sfwgroup.org) to get more information or if you need any assistance in applying for the grants mentioned above!

Additional Resources

We understand that not all schools have the staff and capability to serve during the COVID closures. If you are looking for more resources to send your families, check out the links below:

Nationwide:

• Child Nutrition Program State by State Covid-19 Waivers

• Food Planning during Coronavirus

• Coronavirus and School Closures

• US Department of Education Coronavirus Update

Chicago, IL:

• Meals are available for pick-up at most CPS and Chicago Charter sites across Chicago.  For families who are unable to travel to a CICS or CPS site, CPS is also offering home delivery. Please contact (773) 553-5437 or familyservices@cps.edu for additional info.  

• Chicago-based Gourmet Gorilla is offering home delivery of 10-day shelf stable meals to families in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.  Visit www.gourmetgorilla.com for contact information.

Interested in our consulting services?

Contact us to find out how we can help you manage your school food program from serving during COVID closures, staff training, processing applications, monthly claims and site monitoring to helping prepare for your State Audit.