Fresno Unified is adding Birney Elementary School in central Fresno to the school sites where the community can pick up breakfasts and lunches, district spokeswoman Amy Idsvoog said Tuesday.
Birney will be the district’s 19th school site for school meals starting Wednesday, she said.
Fresno and other school districts in the region have continued to provide school meals that many students typically would receive during the school day.
Area schools have been closed since March 16 to diminish the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
On Friday the district distributed about 40,000 meals, but fewer on Monday, which Idsvoog said might have been due to the rain.

Fresno Unified Feeds Community

The meals are available to all who request them, and not just to K-12 students or younger children as other districts are doing.
“The need is there, and we need to get the food to everyone we can,” Idsvoog said.
The district will not provide meals during the week scheduled for spring break, beginning April 6 and ending April 13, she said.

Madera Unified Revises Meal Pickups

Meanwhile, Madera Unified has consolidated meal pickups to Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the district announced. Previously meals were available each weekday.
The change was made “in order to meet the state’s request to keep with social distancing guidelines and to support our families who have difficulties getting to the school sites for the meal distributions,” the district said.
Monday’s distribution is two breakfasts and two lunches, and Wednesday’s is three breakfasts and three lunches. Heating instructions in English and Spanish are included.
The distribution sites are all the district’s elementary and K-8 schools.