St. Mary schools will launch feeding program; sign-up deadline Monday

The St. Mary Parish school system is launching an emergency feeding program. The sign-up deadline is Monday.

Here's the press release from the School Board:

St. Mary Parish Schools endeavors to provide food and nutrition to our students even during this time while school is closed, so we are announcing a new program that will deliver meals at your doorstep for free. This program is called Meals-to-You, and it is a partnership between St. Mary Parish Schools, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Baylor University.

For a family to participate, at least one child in the household must:

--Attend a CEP School (Aucoin Elementary, Wyandotte Elementary, Morgan City Junior High, Morgan City High, Maitland Elementary, Norman Elementary, Berwick Elementary, Bayou Vista Elementary, Hattie Watts Elementary, Patterson Junior High, Patterson High, Centerville High, Foster Elementary, LaGrange Elementary, Franklin Junior, Franklin High, Raintree Elementary, B. Edward Boudreaux Middle and West St. Mary High)

--Be designated as free or reduced-priced meals eligible at non-CEP schools (Berwick High and Berwick Junior High)

--When parents or guardians sign up for Meals-to-You, every other week you will get a Meals-to-You box delivered to your home for each child ages 1-18 in your household. Each box will include 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches/suppers—enough food for each kid for a week!

All foods items are shelf stable, which means you do not have to worry about them expiring anytime soon. With Meals-to-You, kid-friendly meals are delivered—for FREE—directly to your door, so you don’t have to worry about:

--Extra trips to the grocery store

--Extra money spent on food

--Extra time planning meals your kids will like

If you are not at home when the box is delivered, no worries. The boxes are packed for security, and because the food is shelf stable, you do not have to worry about refrigerating the foods immediately. If you will be unable to pick up your box(es) on a given day, be sure to have a neighbor or family member retrieve them for you. Receiving this benefit will NOT affect any other existing benefits.

HOW DO YOU SIGN UP? All parents are guardians have to do is complete an online application form and submit it by Monday, March 30th. Access to the online form is available at the following link: https://mealstoyou.org/emergency-meals-to-you-application/.

Meal boxes will be provided on a first come, first served basis, so parents/guardians should sign up online as quickly as possible.