After Gov. Ralph Northam closed all Virginia K-12 schools for the remainder of the year to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, several public school districts on the Peninsula started providing meals-to-go for their students.
WYDaily has compiled a list of locations where students can get free meals in Williamsburg, York County, James City County, Hampton and Newport News. The meals are available for pick-up only unless otherwise noted and each school division has its own set of rules for meal eligibility.
Williamsburg-James City County
In Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, students have regularly been coming to locations throughout the area to receive their grab-and-go meals. Between March 16 and April 10, WJCC has distributed 20,152 meals, said Eileen Cox, spokeswoman for WJCC.
The meal services have also expanded through a partnership with Meals on Wheels to provide food to WJCC’s homeless student population at various hotels in the area, Cox said.
The grab-and-go packages provide two days’ worth of breakfast and lunch items to students. When the program first started, parents had to bring the students with them to receive meals. But thanks to changes from the USDA, parents can simply come to distribution sites to receive the meals for their students.
Students can also find access to the meal distribution locations through free rides provided by the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority.
These meals are distributed from 8 to 10 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the following locations:
- James River Elementary School Front Entrance, WATA Route One
- James Blair Middle School Bus Parking Lot, WATA Routes Two and Five
- Toano Middle School Front Entrance, WATA Route Nine
- Warhill High School Student Parking Lot, WATA Route Four
York County
York County School Division is also working to provide meals for students during the closure.
YCSD staff are distributing “meals-to-go” bags at various locations throughout York County that contains multiple days’ worth of food for both weekdays and weekends, according to the division’s website.
Food distribution is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at the following locations:
- Magruder Elementary, 700 Penniman Road
- Tabb High School, 4431 Big Bethel Road
- York High School, 9300 George Washington Memorial Highway
WATA will provide free service to families to the Magruder curbside location. If a family cannot reach a site for meal distribution, they should call 757-898-0468 or 757-898-0485.
Students who previously had funds in their meal accounts will have that money rolled over to the next school year. If they will not be at YCSD in the next year, they can request a refund by contacting the YCSD Finance Department at 757-898-0446.
Hampton
The Hampton City Schools’ Food Services Department will provide two packaged meals daily for anyone 18 years old or younger and students do not need to be present at the pick-up sites. Each meal includes a protein such as a meat or vegetarian option, a fruit, a vegetable and milk. Click here for more information.
The meals are available for pick-up from Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the following locations:
- Aberdeen Elementary School – 1424 Aberdeen Road
- Cary Elementary School – 2009 Andrews Boulevard
- Langley Elementary School – 16 Rockwell Road
- Moton Early Childhood Center – 339 Old Buckroe Road
- Hampton High School – 1491 West Queen St.
- Syms Middle School – 170 Fox Hill Road
- Tarrant Middle School – 1435 Todds Lane
- Bassette Elementary School – 671 Bell St.
Newport News
The Newport News Public Schools’ Child Nutrition Services Department is providing meals to any student. Each meals-to-go include a breakfast snack and lunch meal and families can pick-up the meals in a drive-thru lane. For mobile meals-to-go, families should look for a yellow school bus. See the map of meals-to-go locations here.
Unless otherwise noted, all school and mobile food distribution sites are open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following locations:
School distribution sites:
- An Achievable Dream Academy, 726 16th St.
- Epes Elementary School, 855 Lucas Creek Road
- Heritage High School, 5800 Marshall Ave.
- McIntosh Elementary School, 185 Richneck Road
- Newsome Park Elementary School, 4200 Marshall Ave.
- Palmer Elementary School, 100 Palmer Lane
- Warwick High School, 51 Copeland Lane
Mobile meals-to-go sites:
- Courthouse Way Community, Corner of Old Courthouse Way and Circuit Lane
- Tillerson Community, Corner of Tillerson Drive and Alan Drive
- Peninsula Boys and Girls Club, 429 Thorncliff Drive
- Lee’s Mill Community, Corner of Lee’s Mill Drive and Charles St.
- J. Clyde Area/Midtown (near Rite Aid), Forrest Drive and Woods Drive
- Aqueduct Community, Corner of Colony Road and Aqueduct Drive
- South Morrison Family Learning Center, 746 Adams Drive
- Boys and Girls Club – Tyler Avenue, 95 North Tyler Ave.
- Hogan Drive/City Center Area, Commercial Place behind WaWa
- Circle Mobile Home Park, Front of Rental Office at 6029 Jefferson Ave.
- Doris Miller Community Center, 2814 Wickham Ave.
- Marshall Courts Recreation Center, 3301 Marshall Ave.
- Ivy Baptist Church, 50 Maple Ave.
- Todd Stadium, 12465 Warwick Blvd.
- Courthouse Way Community Center, 14302 Old Courthouse Way
- Kate’s Trace Apartment community, 600 Kate’s Trace Circle near the cul-de-sac from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. only
- James River Flats apartment community, 400 Shelter Circle near the rental office from 12:20 p.m. to 1 p.m. only
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