Georgia schools, food banks push to feed children amid COVID-19
It was a special day when donors dropped off string cheese at the Rincon Library outside Savannah. Luxury items like that weren’t always on the menu at the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak this past summer, when the library-turned-food bank was often serving 90 meals a day to Rincon’s neediest children.
“They were super excited,” said Cathy Driggers, the library’s branch manager. “It was just a little treat that they normally didn’t get.”
Food banks in Georgia have seen demand soar since the start of the pandemic in March, when the virus shuttered schools and work shutdowns drove people to joblessness. Among the state’s most vulnerable to going hungry are children from poor families who rely on free meals from school for their daily diet.
Even as in-person classes resume, many schools are still leaning on food deliveries and help from community groups like local food banks to keep kids fed – especially as coronavirus outbreaks in Georgia begin flaring up again this winter.
“We have done an amazing job of feeding kids, but knowing that we’re not getting to everybody is disheartening,” said Beth Moore, communications manager for the Clarke County School District. “We can only do what we can do, and we’re doing that to the best of our ability.”
The amount of food being served to the more-than 1 million Georgia school children eligible for federally funded free meals has declined 40% to 45% since March, said Linette Dodson, the state Department of Education’s school nutrition director.
With relaxed federal rules on meal deliveries, local schools like those in Savannah are still shipping out food with their buses and at pick-up locations to reach as many students attending virtual classes as possible, said Onetha Bonaparte, school nutrition director for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
That district has dished out nearly 1.5 million meals mostly from school buses since March, said Bonaparte. But that is still much less than the roughly 36,000 meals served daily before the pandemic. And many of the district’s 38,000 students have opted to stick with online classes, creating challenges for a school population needing food both on campus and at home, she said.
“We know the ultimate goal is to get the students fed, and if we can do that, nothing else really matters in our department,” Bonaparte said. “We’re going to keep going until they tell us to stop.”