BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — With schools across the Commonwealth closing down and sending kids home due to coronavirus, many students are left without accessibility to food.
Erin McAleer, President of Project Bread, an organization dedicated to preventing and ending hunger in Massachusetts, said the COVID-19 outbreak response presents a serious problem for food-insecure students.
"There's over 300,000 kids in Massachusetts who rely on school meals," McAleer said. "For some low-income kids, school breakfast and school lunch are half of their daily calories, so it's a real crisis."
So, what is being done in Massachusetts to deal with the problem?
McAleer said the state has submitted waivers to the federal government that would allow school meals to continue to be given to students, even during school closures.
"In some school districts, they're allowing the school kitchens to stay open, but families can come and pick up the meals," she said. "Some districts are even starting to think through potential delivery models, really taking the food that already is available, but trying to deliver it in new ways to get to the families that need it most."
Listen to the full interview with McAleer below.
WBZ NewsRadio's Nichole Davis (@NicholeDWBZ) reports
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