COVID

Public school students can pick up free breakfast and lunch while schools are closed

The meals are available every weekday morning.

Public schools in the Boston area are offering free breakfast and lunch every weekday morning. Oliver Parini for The Washington Post

By Erin Kuschner

March 13, 2020

Following Gov. Baker’s order to close schools in Massachusetts for the next three weeks in an effort to prevent and slow the spread of the coronavirus, many students will be impacted by the disruption this means for their daily routines.

In an effort to keep public school students well-fed while they are unable to access their schools’ cafeterias, Boston Public Schools, Cambridge Public Schools, and Somerville Public Schools are offering breakfast and lunch pick-ups every weekday morning at various locations throughout the cities. Boston Public Schools students may pick up their shelf-stable meals from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., while Cambridge Public Schools students can pick up their meals at noon (for those with last names starting A – M) or 12:30 p.m. (last names starting N–Z). Somerville Public Schools students may pick up their breakfast and lunch from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Pick-up services will be available Tuesday, March 17, and will continue until schools reopen. BPS advises that anyone needing additional food resources should call Project Bread’s Food Source Hotline at 800-645-8333.

Here’s a current list of food pick-up locations for BPS students (blue), Cambridge Public Schools students (green), Somerville Public Schools students (purple), and city-wide meal distribution sites for all school-aged children (orange):

BPS Food and Nutrition Services advises anyone picking up food to follow health guidelines put forth by the Boston Public Health Commission, including practicing “social distancing” measures as recommended by the CDC: Stay six feet away from one another during pick-up, and do not shake hands or be in close contact for more than 15 minutes. People over 60 and with underlying medical conditions are advised not to pick up meals as they are at a greater risk of contracting the virus. And, as always, anyone who is feeling unwell should stay home.