In a year that has been anything but normal for public school districts, many have committed to and continued to offer breakfast and lunch meal kits to those students who would otherwise rely on the meals at school.
“We all know kids learn better when they’re not hungry, so this is a very important role,” said Spring Lake Park Schools Director of Business Services Amy Schultz. “It’s something the staff takes a lot of pride in, but it’s a great need in our community as well.”
Spring Lake Park schools began doing daily meal distributions when COVID-19 shut down schools last spring. As the school year ended, Schultz said the district was preparing 900 meals a day for families in need.
Once school began again in September, and mostly in-person, she said the district was still providing more than 150 meal kits a day. Parents shared that it was difficult to make it to the school every day to pick up the kits. Also, since students were back in session, the district could not use buses to try to take food to drop-off spots.
Now that all students are back to distance learning, food services workers from across the district have begun assembling breakfast and lunch kits in the kitchen at the high school. Families can now pick up the meals at the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the district uses buses to get the meals to nine drop-off locations on those days, too.
“We do feel this is a huge contribution to the community,” said Schultz. “It’s also something as a school district we know we need to be doing.”
She said any child younger than 18, regardless of attendance in the district, is eligible for a meal kit.
They are distributed between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Spring Lake Park High School and at the following locations:
- Spring Lake Park High School, door 33, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
- 1100, 81st Ave NE, Spring Lake Park, MN 55432
- Apostolic Lutheran Church, 10:30-11:15 a.m.
- 9401 Bataan St NE, Blaine, MN 55449
- Cloverleaf Park, 10:30-11:15 a.m.
- 650 99th Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55434
- Fridley American Legion, 10:30-11:15 a.m.
- 7365 Central Ave NE, Fridley, MN 55432
- Fridley Terrace Community Center, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- 7400 Taylor St NE, Fridley, MN 55432
- Former Broadway Pizza – Springbrook, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- 8298 University Ave NE, Fridley, MN 55432
- District Services Center, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- 1415 81st Ave NE, Spring Lake Park, MN 55432
- Madsen Park, 12:30-1:15 p.m.
- 735 73rd Ave NE, Fridley, MN 55432
- Emmanuel Christen Center Parking Lot, 12:30-1:15 p.m.
- 7777 University Ave NE, Spring Lake Park, MN 55432
- Centerview Elementary School, 12:30-1:15 p.m.
- 10365 Davenport St NE, Blaine, MN 55449
Location Identification and Directions
- A yellow school bus will be parked at each of these locations to identify the meal pick-up location.
- Families who are driving to these locations will see a drive-thru lane set up. Families can stay in their cars and follow the lane designated by orange cones until they are at the front of the line where staff will bring your meals out to you.
- Families are also welcome to walk to a location. When you arrive, staff will be ready to assist you.
If you have additional circumstances we need to know about, please call the district office at 763-600-5000.
