Oxford schools provide free lunches to area children

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI) – Governor Tate Reeves has ordered Mississippi schools to close until April 17.

Some students depend on schools for daily meals. That’s why many schools are coming together to ensure that families have meals until class is back in session.

Prepping sandwiches, putting together to-go lunches, and making sure everyone gets fed.

The seats of the cafeteria at Oxford Middle School may be empty, but the kitchen isn’t.

“It feels great to help parents that can’t afford to give their children breakfast or lunch or just need a meal period,” said worker Cindy McGlown.

Cafeteria workers, or lunch ladies as they are sometimes called, like McGlown get to work around 6 a.m. and don’t leave until 2:30 p.m.

“We gotta do what we gotta do to feed the kids,” said McGlown.

The Oxford school district has six locations set up around the community for kids and their parents to grab a lunch.

Superintendent Brian Harvey said this was an opportunity to extend their summer meals program.

“We’ve got students who are out of school. We already had the staffing available and we saw this just as a natural extension of where we are with this virus,” said Brian Harvey.

The first day they gave away more than 700 meals. He believes that as word gets out they will be able to help more families.

“We’re looking at, do we have these locations in the right spot? Do we need to move them around? Do we need to add, and our staff is ready to do whatever is necessary,” said Harvey.

Doing what’s necessary to keep the community together– Packing one meal at a time.

“That’s our job. We love and I’m glad to be here to do it,” said McGlown.

OSD will provide free meals on weekdays from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. for all children under the age of 18. Adults can also purchase meals for $2 at these locations.