Hundreds line up in the rain for school lunches

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Students in Charles City might not admit they’re missing school yet, but if the turnout Thursday was any indication, they sure must miss school lunch.

Despite a pouring rain, 222 “grab and go” meals were served in 90 minutes Thursday morning as the Charles City School District launched its COVID-19 food service program. On Friday, 261 lunches were delivered to vehicles.

“We weren’t sure of the need that was going to be out there today, because obviously this is a rainy day, and we have quite a few people out there who have some food needs,” said Karleen Sickman, intervention room coordinator for the school district, who seemed to be in charge of the situation on Thursday.

“This is a great thing that the school can do for everybody, and it looks like it’s going to be a good thing going down the line the next few weeks,” she said.

Sickman said more than 40 cars drove through in the first 20 minutes, and the rush rarely let up after that.

“We are probably going to have more drop-off sites. we just want to see what the need is today and tomorrow, and then we’ll expand what we’re doing,” she said. “If there are changes or updates we will let people know.”

The service during the school district’s novel coronavirus shutdown, which will last until at least April 13, is similar to the the Summer Food Service program.

Free take-home meals are available for Charles City students age 18 and under. The service will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every weekday at Washington Elementary. The district plans to begin additional delivery sites beginning on Monday, March 23.

On Thursday, Charles City school teachers, staff and other employees directed traffic, collected family names and distributed meals for students who are enrolled in the school district. This includes home school, virtual, Carrie Lane High School and IC Catholic school students.

Those who want a free lunch will need to enter Washington Elementary from 16th Avenue and follow the direction of the signage and those working. Pickup is on the north side of the school. There are two stops to make before the food is delivered to the vehicle.

The school district asks that if traveling by car, to stay in the car. Students do not need to accompany the pick-up person. No pre-orders are necessary.

The district has hungry students covered on the weekends, too. Charles City’s Backpack Program is a free program that provides kid-friendly, non-perishable food for students to eat over weekends and breaks when school meals are not available.

Any child is welcome to participate in the Backpack Program with no questions asked. A parent or guardian just needs to fill out a form available on the Charles City School District’s website. Families with multiple children can put them all on one form and each child will receive a food bag.

Food bags are delivered each Friday. The district is still working out the details on how to deliver Backpack Food Program bags during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charles City Community Schools will continue with daily updates to the community for as long as there is news to share. Look for these updates through text and email each day around 6 p.m. Visit the district’s website to sign up for “Community-Wide Notifications.”

In other news from the Charles City Community School District, the district announced Thursday that the Iowa State FFA Convention has been canceled, and the Drive 4UR School with Mike Molstead Motors scheduled for next month has been rescheduled for Homecoming Weekend.

Also, kindergarten round-up parent meetings, originally scheduled for next week, are postponed. The district will communicate rescheduled dates later.