School Board Extends Free Meals to All Kids

ALACHUA County – Starting Sept. 8, Alachua County Public Schools have been offering free meals for all children, ages 0-18.

Alachua County Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) Department received authorization from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to offer free meals to all Alachua County children ages 0-18 beginning Sept. 8 and running through Dec. 31.

Families will be able to pick up meals Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 26 locations. Students will be provided three breakfasts and three lunches on Tuesdays and four breakfasts and four lunches on Thursdays to cover meals for each day of the week.

The distribution sites are as follows:

Archer ES	Hawthorne Middle/High	Littlewood ES	Oakview Middle	Terwilliger ES
Buchholz High	Hidden Oak ES	Lanier Center	Parker ES	Williams ES
Duval Early Learning	High Springs Community School	Meadowbrook ES	PK Yonge
Foster ES	Irby ES	Metcalfe ES	Rawlings ES
Gainesville High	Lake Forest ES	Newberry High	Santa Fe High
Glen Springs ES	Kanapaha Middle	Norton ES	Talbot ES

Children do not have to be registered at a school to receive free meals and may pick up meals from any one of the 26 locations.

The expansion of the program also means that all children enrolled in a brick and mortar school will have access to free meals during the school day.

“We are thrilled to be able to implement this free program for all families in Alachua County,” said Maria Eunice, Director of Food & Nutrition Services. “This is a great opportunity for children of all ages to have access to healthy meals, and we’d like to encourage all families, regardless of income, to take advantage of it.”

For specific information on meal distribution visit the Food and Nutrition Services website at yourchoicefresh.com or contact the district office at 352-955-7539.

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