To help ensure that students don’t go hungry during the COVID-19 crisis, the Portland Public Schools is adding a new meal distribution site as of Monday, April 27:  Reiche Community School. The Locker Project, a local nonprofit, also will offer free bags of food to families at the new site on Tuesdays.

PORTLAND, Maine – To increase access to the Portland Public Schools’ meals program during the COVID-19 crisis, the district has added Reiche Community School as a 10th meal distribution site, starting Monday, April 27.

In addition, The Locker Project, a local nonprofit that prioritizes produce, will also provide free bags of food to families at Reiche on Tuesdays. According to Kathryn Sargent, Executive Director of the Locker Project, each Locker Project bag usually includes between 7 and 8 pounds of fruits and vegetables. “As the growing season starts, the bags will include more and more green vegetables,” she said. The Locker Project already provides family food bags from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesdays at Presumpscot, King, Rowe, and East End schools and at the same time on Thursdays at Portland High School, Deering High School, Riverton, and Lyman Moore schools. Going forward, the Locker Project will offer the food bags at Reiche on Tuesdays during the 10 a.m. to noon time period. The bags are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The district’s Food Service Department serves free breakfast and lunch meals each weekday for anyone age 18 and under. Both can be picked up together anytime between 10 a.m. and 12 noon from the bus loops at each participating school. No I.D. is necessary and youngsters do not need to be present or to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch or be Portland Public School students to receive these meals.

The 10 school distribution sites are: Deering High School, East End Community School, King Middle School, Lyman Moore Middle School, Peaks Island Elementary School, Portland High School, Presumpscot Elementary School, Riverton Elementary School, Rowe Elementary School and Reiche Community School.

For more information, contact Food Service Director Jane McLucas at [email protected] or 207-874-8231