Manatee school district provides free lunches during spring break. Here are the details

Gloria Oliver shared a bottle of hand sanitizer with her grandson just before they enjoyed a free lunch on Monday afternoon.

Sitting under the shade of a pavilion at Lincoln Park, the duo enjoyed taquitos, carrots, pears and milk — a meal shared by 461 people throughout Manatee County. The school district distributed lunches at seven locations between Palmetto and Bradenton, as part of its annual spring break program.

In between bites, Oliver’s grandson shared a lesson from his daycare.

“He’s been teaching me about hand washing all day,” Oliver said. “He told me hot water was best.”

Her grandson was taking precautions against COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, and so were the men and women who distributed the lunches with gloved hands.

On Friday evening, the Florida Department of Education issued a “strong recommendation,” encouraging all school districts to extend their spring break and fight the virus’ spread. Manatee soon extended its break and its lunch program.

As of Monday, the district planned to continue using the same locations and times through March 27, when the extended break comes to an end. The program serves children in Manatee County who are 18 or younger, regardless of family income.

• Turner Chapel, 317 11th St. W., Palmetto, from 11:30 a.m. to noon.
• Lincoln Park, 501 17th St. E., Palmetto, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
• Southeast High School, 1200 37th Ave. E., Bradenton, from 11 to 11:30 a.m.
• Bradenton Village Apartments, 1302 Third St. W., Bradenton, from noon to 12:30 p.m.
• Pride Park, 815 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton, from 1 to 1:30 p.m.
• Manatee Mobile Home Park, 2204 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton, from 11:30 a.m. to noon.
• City Stop, 619 11th Ave. E., Bradenton, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic shuts down schools and alters daily life, the program could be a source of normalcy and hope for local students, who rely on school for a daily meal. In Manatee County, about 60 percent of students receive meal benefits, meaning a free or reduced-price lunch.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Oliver said. “With me being a single mom years back, I don’t remember them having this.”

The school district began its mobile lunch program more than five years ago, but this year required a change in the normal routine.

In the past, students walked onto a bus, retrieved their food and finished their lunches on site. The students are now handed a lunch through the bus window and encouraged to take the meal home, in an effort to promote “social distancing” and halt the spread of COVID-19.

If schools remain closed after the break, the district will request an extension on the lunch service, which is made possible by a state program, said Regina Thoma, the director of food and nutrition services for Manatee schools.

“With the coronavirus, there may be fear to go out. Stores may be running low on food. Normally it’s very important, but now I can’t express how important it is — far more than usual,” she said.

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 4:51 PM.