Syracuse City Schools opened school buildings on Monday as the district advances with a new hybrid style of learning. Some students are coming to class in-person, and others are participating from home. So how will schools provide lunch and breakfast?
Food and Nutrition Director Rachel Murphy says they served upwards of 20-thousand meals a day over the summer.
“The children need it. Our community needs to be fed. We have kids who are experiencing food insecurity which has never been an insecurity before. Hunger in the Syracuse community has just grown and I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.”
To Murphy, Grab-n-Go meals have become the primary solution.
“ You can go to any of our school buildings and some of the communities there are partnering with us. Anywhere form eight to one o’clock Monday through Friday, whether you are a virtual learner or not, you can go and grab a meal.”
According to No Kid Hungry New York campaign Director Rachel Sabella the food insecurity concerns extend beyond Syracuse and have increased across the US during the pandemic.
“ As many as one in four children in the United States could face hunger this year because of the Coronavirus, and New York is no exception.”
Due to evidence like this Murphy feels like the district could be reaching more students.
“There is a lot more students out there who could take advantage of the programming who are not.”
No Kid Hungry New York is an organization that has contributed millions this year to school districts in order to fight childhood hunger. But, Rachel Sabella with the No Kid Hungry Campaign says there needs to be a wave of advocacy to ensure state and local governments work together on a solution.
“We are going to educate people about the solutions. We are going to encourage policy makers to enact policies and budgets that will address this and help families that are struggling.”
Besides schools, community locations in Syracuse such as Mary Nelson Youth Center and Peyton Temple will also provide Grab-n-Go meal services. Mary Nelson Youth Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 to 2. For the full list of locations visit the Syracuse City Schools Website.