MLSD plans free meal distribution at seven schools during closure

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District will begin distributing breakfast and lunch to all students in the district at seven schools beginning on Friday, March 20.

According to a statement posted on the district’s Facebook page, meals will be given to all children under the age of 18 in the MLSD from March 20 through April 24 — the six weeks Gov. Jay Inslee closed schools in the state.

Distribution will begin at 10:30 a.m. and last through 11:30 a.m. at the following elementary schools: Knolls Vista, Lakeview, Larson Heights, Longview, Midway, North and Peninsula. Lunches for that day, as well as the following morning’s breakfast, will be distributed each weekday of the closure except for the week of spring break, April 6-10.

“It’s kind of like a bagged lunch,” said district spokesperson Claren McLaughlin. “We don’t have our kitchen services up and running.”

Lunches will include sandwiches, fresh vegetables, potatoes, and even chicken paddies and pizza slices, McLaughlin said, while breakfast will include wraps, waffles, cereal and fruit.

“It’s quite a variety, really,” she said.

Children must be present to pick up the meals, and parents can either drive through or walk in to one of the seven schools to pick the meals up.

According to data from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, roughly 62 percent of the 8,597 students enrolled in the Moses Lake schools at the end of October, 2019, were eligible for free or reduced lunches.

McLaughlin said it took a bit for the district to work out the logistics of meal distribution during the mandated school closure.

“It’s a good thing to do for the community,” she said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected]