Food programs for kids, seniors make adjustments, ask for donations during pandemic
TAMPA, Fla. - School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic might mean more playtime for some kids, but there are other children wondering where they will get their next meal.
West Tampa Elementary School Principal Kevin Kastner says that’s the reality for dozens of families at his Title I school, where 95% of their students are on free or reduced lunch.
“I can’t imagine telling my children, 'There’s not enough food in the house for you to eat. You’re going to have to wait until the school opens,'” said Kastner. “We have about 24 families that are provided with food by an organization called End-68. They provide extra food for them over the weekends to combat the hunger they experience when they’re not getting school meals.”
After the decision was made to close school for two weeks because of COVID-19, Kastner says the organization realized didn’t have the resources to feed families for that long.
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“We reached out to End 68 [Hours of Hunger] for the extended break,” he said. “They’re working on a plan, but were unable to do it in such a short time. So we decided to do a food drive in my neighborhood.”
Volunteers pack food for kids to take home from school.
A simple text message thread led to hundreds of donations. Kastner said he reached out to a few friends about his concern for his school children.
“From there, people started bringing food and sending money, and those people sent text messages to their friends, and it just spread from there. We’ve had people coming to the house and dropping off food since early Saturday morning. It’s been a really incredible response from the community,” Kastner said.
Children are not the only ones who could potentially suffer from hunger during the pandemic. Food programs for seniors and homebound citizens are changing how they distribute. Steve King with Tampa’s Meals on Wheels says volunteers have stepped back because of self-quarantines, forcing the organization to make changes.
“We can’t get the daily meals to our recipients as we’d like to,” King said. “We’ve decided for the next two weeks to go with seven frozen meals to our recipients once a week, instead of delivering to them every day.”
That means no delivered hot meals for the time being and less social interaction for those who sometimes need it most.
“That means so, so much to somebody who is isolated and alone," King said.
Hillsborough County’s Aging Services Department, which serves senior citizens in congregated settings such as senior centers or adult day care centers, is making changes too.
“Those seniors have been offered home-delivered meals as an alternative,” said aging services director Tracy Gogichaishvili. “Our home-delivered meals drivers are placing the meals outside of the clients’ doors, knocking on the door, and stepping back six feet from the doorway while they wait for the meal to be retrieved by the client or their caregiver.”
If you’re interested in helping in any way, King says you can join their Meals on Wheels volunteer team. Kastner says you can donate goods to End 68 Hours of Hunger or donate to your local food bank.
“Just do what I did, just text a couple of friends and see what you can do for your schools,” Kastner said.
If you feel sick
The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.
LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website
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