SANTA CRUZ — Schools across Santa Cruz County were shuttered Monday, the first day of what will be — at least — a week without class to mitigate the further spread of the new coronavirus.
But food is still being served at numerous school sites for the many students who rely on their schools for breakfast and lunch.
Gault Elementary, in Santa Cruz, is one of more than two dozen schools across the county offering meals to students, with pickup times varying by school site.
Early Monday afternoon, a slow stream of families drove by the school’s curbside pickup site where each child was offered breakfast and lunch packed in brown paper bags.
“It’s been going smoothly,” said Georgia Guzman, a food service worker at Gault who was coordinating the pickup. “We already had a lot of stuff in my kitchen from the previous week, so we were able to use that instead of throwing it out, which is good — and we did let the parents know Friday.”
On the menu: packaged muffins or a bar with fruit and milk for breakfast, and a sandwich, cookie, apple, carrots and milk for lunch.
Santa Cruz resident Maria Reyes Gomez stopped by with her grandson, fifth grader Christopher.
“It’s helpful for his mother,” Reyes Gomez said of the food program, speaking in Spanish.
Santa Cruz resident Sumi Vazquez stopped by with his first grade daughter. He said the food program is a help for his family, which is preparing for schools to possibly stay closed for weeks ahead.
Another father who stopped by with his child asked not to be identified by name. He said his family relies on the school-provided meals to make ends meet.
“It helps out a lot, because our income is limited,” he said. “It would be two more meals you have to worry about, and we’re barely making it.”
As of last year, more than 53% of Santa Cruz County students qualified for free or reduced price lunch.
“Schools play an essential part in food security for our families,” said Edgar Landeros, program manager at Nueva Vista Community Resources. The nonprofit community center serves predominantly low-income, Latino families in the Santa Cruz’s Beach Flats and Lower Ocean neighborhoods.
“With our working families trying to make ends meet all the time, and now the possibility of some furloughs or being laid off, it’s going to be very important that the schools continue to partner up and continue to offer those meals to the children that typically would receive a meal during the school year,” Landeros added.
School districts have sent families information on where and when the meals can be picked up, and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education was working Monday to prepare a master list.
Nonprofit United Way of Santa Cruz had compiled a list of school sites, available online at unitedwaysc.org.
Enrollment at the school is not required. According to district announcements, any child under the age of 18 is eligible for meals at the open schools.
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