The COVID-19 pandemic has caused all school districts in the area to cancel classes for the immediate future, creating concern over how low-income families will feed their children in the absence of school lunches.

As a remedy, starting Monday and running weekdays through at least April 13th, the Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn school districts will be providing pick-up meals to area students at no charge. Perry has the highest percentage of students in the State of Iowa who are on the free and reduced lunch program, so Superintendent Clark Wicks said it was a priority to help those kids stay fed even with school not in session. Families can go to the high school or elementary between 10:30 a.m. – noon for a free “grab-and-go” meal that will include breakfast and lunch. The students receiving the lunch must be present in order to get it, and it’s one meal per child, per day.

Similarly for ADM, they are offering a free sack lunch program to kids in all three communities. Meals will be available weekdays from 9:45-10:30 a.m. at the Minburn school building, from 11-11:45 a.m. at Adel Elementary and ADM High School, and from 12:30-1:15 p.m. at DeSoto Intermediate. Superintendent Greg Dufoe felt it was important to provide lunches in all three cities, but said the District’s request for state waivers for meal service in Minburn and DeSoto were denied. Luckily, the Good Samaritan Food Pantry in Adel stepped up to provide meals in the two communities, and Dufoe expressed his gratitude for their support. To learn more about the Perry and ADM pick-up lunch programs, click the links below.

http://www.perry.k12.ia.us
https://sites.google.com/adm.k12.ia.us/coronavirus/free-sack-lunch-program?authuser=2