Fresno Unified School District will provide grab-and-go meals through the summer meal program at 22 sites, more than twice as many as last year, Superintendent Bob Nelson said Tuesday afternoon.

In past years the free meals were available at district high schools, but the number of sites has been expanded to accommodate the community, he said.

The district kept serving free grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches after schools were closed on March 13 to feed children as well as adults in need, with over 3 million meals served so far, Nelson said.

The meal program has been a win-win, providing a way for families who may be hard-pressed financially due to the coronavirus shutdowns not to go hungry while providing a market for local farmers to sell their produce, he said.

Find Meals at These Sites

Starting Monday and ending Aug. 14, the meals will be handed out from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday at the following locations: Addams, Birney, Columbia, Ewing,  Figarden, Lane, Lincoln, and Slater elementary schools; Fort Miller, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Tehipite, Terronez, Tioga, Wawona, and Yosemite middle schools; Hamilton K-8; Bullard, Duncan Polytechnical, Edison, Hoover, and Sunnyside high schools.

Meals will no longer be provided at Cooper Academy, Leavenworth Elementary School, and Ahwahnee, Computech, and Scandinavian middle schools because of ongoing facilities projects.

No meals will be provided this Friday or Friday, July 3, but students and families will be provided two days’ worth of meals on Thursday and on July 2, Nelson said.

The meals are available to all, even to children and families who are not district or city residents, Nelson said.

Food Boxes Also Distributed

The district also is partnering with the Central California Food Bank to hand out food boxes with commodities for family meals. The distribution will be at various schools during the summer and will be first-come, first-served.

The food box distribution began today and will continue on the following schedule, Nelson said: Wednesday, 1 p.m., Williams Elementary; June 12, 8:30 a.m., Ahwahnee Middle, Cooper Academy; June 15, 9:30 a.m., Rowell Elementary; June 17, 1 p.m., Mayfair Elementary; June 18, 12:30 p.m., Norsemen Elementary; June 22, 8:30 a.m., Balderas and Hidalgo elementaries; June 23, 12:30 p.m., Heaton Elementary; June 24, 8:30 a.m., Lowell Elementary, 12:30 p.m., Calwa Elementary; June 25, 1:30 p.m., Jefferson Elementary.