Following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement that it will extend funding for its Summer Food Service Program, the Hawai‘i Department of Education (DOE) announced that it will resume providing free meals for students at 203 schools beginning Oct. 12 through Dec. 18.
“Parents left unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19 may be faced with significant shortfalls to the family budget. Getting free breakfast and lunch for their children at school can make a big difference. We intend to make full use of these federal funds to provide healthy meal options for local families through the Grab-and-Go meal program,” said Hawai‘i’s First Lady Dawn Ige.
The Hawai‘i DOE’s Grab-and-Go meal program offers any student, ages 18 or younger, nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch. Parents or guardians simply pick up meals curbside to take home.
Through the spring and summer, the state prepared close to 1.3 million meals for students, and it expects to see the same level of participation through the fall as most students are learning from home this semester. Free breakfast and lunch meals can be picked up during lunchtime from any of the 203 participating Hawai‘i DOE schools. Please contact your school for specific times. A list of those schools and verification documents needed can be found online at www.ainapono.org/grabandgo.