Grab and Go Meals Provided to Students Starting March 23
The Ames Community School District received approval from the Iowa Department of Education through the USDA to provide Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meals. Starting Monday, March 23, the District will be able to provide grab-and-go meals to any child 1 – 18 years of age. Three locations have been selected that include Meeker, Mitchell, and Sawyer Elementary Schools. Other school sites across the District do not qualify under the program, but ANY child, regardless of where they live, may access meals from these sites.
Meals will be provided to all children without charge and provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. We will be distributing both breakfast and lunch grab-and-go meals. Meals can be picked up Monday through Friday between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and food service staff will deliver the bags to the cars to eliminate anybody in our buildings. Hot meals will be provided twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday). Since these meals will be served hot, we will not be able to provide two days worth of meals on those days. Instead, on Monday, we will offer Monday meals and Tuesday breakfast. On Tuesday, we will offer current-day lunch (hot on Tuesday and Thursday) and the following days breakfast. We will be sending reheating instructions with the meals in case they are not consumed immediately.
Bus Routes to Food Locations:
In an effort to assist Ames Community School District families obtain grab-and-go meals, Durham Bus Services will be providing shuttle routes starting Monday, March 23rd. We would like to reserve the buses for families who do not have access to transportation. If you have transportation available, we ask that you drive to one of these locations to receive meals.
We ask families to use great care in who is sent to pick up the grab & go meals. Parents are welcome to ride the bus with younger children and older students may ride alone. There is no student supervision provided on these buses and parents are expected to provide supervision.
The bus stops and pick up times can be found at the URL below. The shuttle will run every 30 minutes beginning with the first time listed. Riders will be dropped off at the designated school. Once you receive meals, a return shuttle will take you to your point of origin.
We will be following the State and National guidelines of social distancing and will transport no more than 10 individuals on each bus who will be seated 6 feet apart. Please be respectful of others and do not use the shuttle if you are feeling sick.
If you have any questions, Durham will have staff available to help beginning 3/23/20. They can be reached at 515-233-5424 between the hours of 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
The bus route schedule can be accessed on our website at the URL below.