The Dawson County Schools Nutrition Department recently announced its plan to feed local students over the summer, while still respecting social distancing guidelines.
Linda Byrd, Dawson County Schools nutrition director explained that the meals will be distributed in a pick-up fashion beginning in June.
“We’ll prepare the meals at school and deliver them to Rock Creek Park,” Byrd said. “And then families can come get the meals from the park.”
Meals will be available Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There will be four weeks in which meals will be available: June 8 through July 15 at Rock Creek Park, and July 20 through 24 at Dawson County Junior High School.
The meals will be free for any student under 18 and any special needs student under 21. Family members are invited too, and adults over 18 will be allowed to purchase a meal for $3.75. No paperwork or registration is necessary to receive a meal.
Byrd explained that the school system has done summer feeding programs in the past, but that with the recent COVID-19 outbreak this year’s summer meals will look different than previous years.
“In the past, we’ve set everything up in the school and people come in and get all the meal components separately,” Byrd said. “But this year we’re pre-bagging the meals so people can just come pick them up from the park.”
The turnout in previous years has been good, and according to Byrd the school system is anticipating a positive reception by the community this year too despite the changes caused by the virus.