Emergency Meals-To-You

BCHP Response to COVID-19 and beyond…

Almost 22 million children in America are out of school because of closures due to the coronavirus. This means children and families who rely on school meals are not able to get them, especially in rural communities where picking up food at a school isn’t an option. We’re meeting this need by mailing meals to households in rural communities across the country. Our goal is to send 1,000,000 meals a week—and we need your help. If you’re wondering what you can do to support children and families—our neighbors—right now, make a donation to support our work. Your donation will support Emergency Meals-to-You and allow us to continue serving families even after the current crisis is over.

FACTS:

• Goal is increase capacity to nearly 1 million nutritious meals per week.  Boxes begin being shipped next week.
• The boxes contain ten days of shelf-stable, nutritious, individually packaged foods that meet USDA’s summer food requirements.
• USDA is using best practices learned through a Baylor-led summer Meals-to-You home delivery pilot program in 2019 to deliver food boxes to children in rural America. McLane Global was a partner in this successful effort.
• Baylor is coordinating with the appropriate state officials to prioritize students who do not currently have access to a SFSP site and have an active outbreak of COVID-19.
• PepsiCo generously provided $1 million in funding to the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty to support school districts and to identify the children most in need.
• Initial capacity is limited, and additional vendors are requested and encouraged to ensure more food can be provided to more rural children as additional schools close. USDA has created a single contact for those who have suggestions, ideas or want to help feed kids across the country at FeedingKids@usda.gov.

More information:

On March 17, 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Baylor Collaborative, McLane Global, and PepsiCo announced a plan to deliver meals to students in rural areas affected by COVID-19 school closures. This effort, Emergency Meals to You (eMTY), is an expansion of a pilot the Collaborative conducted in 2019 called Meals to You. During this pilot project in summer 2019, The Collaborative provided over 475,000 meals to 4,000 children.  Boxes were shipped weekly to children and teens in rural areas where traditional summer meal sites were unavailable. In response to the COVID-19 crisis and extensive school closures, USDA asked the Collaborative to expand this program nationwide to serve eligible schools in rural areas and in areas shut in by the quarantine. The Collaborative is providing technical assistance and administrative support for eMTY by consulting with federal and state agencies and school districts to manage enrollment and address verification, and match interested school districts with vendors. We will begin serving students 1,000,000 meals per week immediately with the possibility of growth beyond that as need arises and capacity allows.  Find more information at www.hungerandpoverty.org.

This is just one way we can alleviate strain on families in the coming months. And we know this crisis will continue to have economic and social impacts likely for years to come. Your support would not only help immediate relief efforts but could also support long-term interventions which have yet to emerge. Once the most pressing days of this crisis are behind us, we will let you know what your donation allowed us to do.