AMITE—Out of respect for the Governor’s request for residents to stay at home and in an effort to provide meals to local students, the Tangipahoa Parish School System will partner with a Texas-based non-profit to provide free meals to children under the age of 18 through the duration of the COVID-19 school closure.
Tangipahoa Parish School Superintendent Melissa Stilley said the district will partner with Baylor University’s “Meals to You” to provide a weekly home delivery service of five breakfast meals and five lunch servings to every child under the age of 18 in Tangipahoa Parish.
Parents and caregivers must opt-in to receive this free “Meals to You” service. A link will be available on the district website, social media channels, and via the new email-based TPSS newsletter starting today (Thursday, March 26). Registration is quick and easy, and can be completed using a smart phone or any other internet-enabled device.
The program offers a quick turnaround, but registration must be completed in a window of just a few days. As such, families will have until Monday night, March 30, to complete their registration. Then meals will begin shipping out later that week.
District leaders say this service will fill a critical need in our community during the COVID-19 response.
“In the course of four short days, we learned without the shadow of a doubt that our families depend on their school-based meals. While we believed it would be difficult continue to produce and distribute meals person-to-person utilizing our school food service personnel, Baylor University has offered us a great opportunity to continue our free meal service with the added benefit of delivering these meals direct to the children without any need for additional transportation or logistical scheduling,” Stilley said.
Once a family signs up, the collaborative will mail the meals to families based on the number of children in each household. Families will need to input a 9-1-1 physical address for shipping of the meals, which will begin shortly after sign up.
Parents who miss this window to apply will not be able to secure meals through the program after the application deadline Monday night.
Stilley said this service will remain in effect through the duration of the state-ordered school closure.
“We have been looking for ways to get meals to our students, and this is a great opportunity not only for our students but for every child in Tangipahoa Parish,” Stilley said.
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Melissa M. Stilley
Superintendent
Tangipahoa Parish School System
Deadline to apply is Monday night, March 30th.
Thank you so much for your consideration in this matter! Be safe and stay PROTECTED!
