Three St. Landry Parish schools will prepare and distribute lunches for students while schools are closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to school officials.
They are asking for volunteers to help with the distribution.
Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a proclamation Friday that closes all K-12 public schools statewide and immediately halts any gathering of more than 250 people until April 13.
Opelousas Junior High School, Lawtell Elementary School, and Central Middle School in Eunice will serve lunches between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each weekday starting Monday, March 16, according to school nutrition director Helen Robinson. Student who can't physically be there to pick up food, will still be feed. "We'll be going out doing deliveries, " Robinson said. "We're going to hit the streets and we've coordinated with our transportation department. We'll have bus drivers running their routes and finding kids."
Hundreds of plates are being preped in the lunchroom and given away every weekday. Parents like Lea Joesph took advantage of the opportunity. She says her child has a big appetite. There's food at home, but it's not enough. "They eat a lot," Joesph said about her children. "They have snacks, but they tend to run through that." She added,"it saves me from having to cook at least twice a day We're good, but as long as their offering the program, we'll take advantage of it."
She added,"it saves me from having to cook atleast twice a day We're good, but as long as their offering the program, we'll take advantage of it."
Meals will also be available for pick-up at the following locations throughout the parish beginning at 12 noon:
- Plymouth Rock Baptist Church (162 Plymouth Rock Loop, Morrow, LA)
- New Life Church of God Campground (445 Campground Road, Palmetto, LA)
- Corte’s Grocery (226 Lyons St, Melville, LA)
- Knights of Columbus (418-B Saizan St, Port Barre, LA)
- First Baptist Church (853 Saizan St, Port Barre, LA)
- Shiloh Baptist Church (419 Buhot St, Washington, LA)
- Sunset Community Center (211 Marie St, Sunset, LA)
Any student in the parish in need of lunches may pick up a meal at these locations during these times. The student must be present. Lunches will be brought out to the cars.
Volunteers who want to help distribute the meals should sign up at https://volunteersignup.org/4AXLE.
School and government officials are working on other options to make the meals more easily accessible. Those will be announced as soon as they are finalized. Parents are urged to watch local media and to check regularly for updates with the school board website, https://www.slpsb.org/ and its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/stlandryparishschoolboard/.
Lafayette also has announced feeding locations. To read that story, click here.
