From The Tribune staff reports
JEFFERSON COUNTY — Students in the Jefferson County School District now have access to healthy meal options seven days a week.
According to an announcement from JefCoEd, students will be given breakfast and lunch each Friday for the upcoming weekend. The meals (enough for both Saturday and Sunday) are available to any JefCoEd student and are part of the child nutrition department’s seven-Day Meal Program.
“We have a lot of parents that work and may not be able to come home and prepare their children’s meals,” said Amanda Bridges-Dunn, Child Nutrition Program Supervisor. “So many of our meals are shelf-stable or very easy for the child to prepare themselves.”
The program started as a pilot at just a few schools before spring break. However, it quickly grew and expanded based on the need and positive feedback.
“Parents were like, ‘Hey, thank you, we appreciate that!’ And so we said, ‘You know what, let’s do weekend meals for everybody,'” said Bridges-Dunn. “Let’s just see if we can go ahead and pack up meals for Saturday and Sunday and just send them home with every child in Jefferson County that will take one.”
The school district says traditional students will receive meals at their school Friday afternoon. Remote students can pick up the meals on Friday during carline pick up or bus stop drop off.
The program will continue through the end of the school year. Plans for summer meal service will be announced at a later date.