TAKOMA PARK, Md. — As back-to-back snowstorms shuttered schools last week across the mid-Atlantic states, parents fretted about lost learning time, administrators scheduled makeup days and teachers posted assignments online. But Marla Caplon worried about a more fundamental problem: How would students eat?
The two snowstorms that pummeled the region, leaving more than 3 feet of snow in some areas, deprived tens of thousands of children from Virginia to Pennsylvania of the free or reduced-price school lunch that might be their only nutritious meal of the day.
The nonprofits that try to meet the need when school is not in session also closed their doors for much of the week, leaving many families looking at bare cupboards. And many parents working hourly jobs were unable to earn any money during the week, as the snow forced businesses to close.
Caplon is a food-services supervisor for Montgomery County Public Schools, where about 43,000 children are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Some also get breakfast, dinner and bags of staple foods to take home for the weekend. The snow days meant children would get none of that until Tuesday because schools are closed Monday for Presidents Day.
“We’ve been bothered by this all week,” Caplon said.
So, Caplon arranged for Manna Food Center, a local food bank whose board she leads, to bring boxes of food Friday to two still-closed elementary schools. Officials used the school district’s automated phone system to notify parents of the distribution.
At Rolling Terrace Elementary School, a stream of people walked up to a Manna truck in the school’s bus bay Friday. They filled plastic shopping bags with cans of soup, vegetables and beans, ground beef and Rice Krispies Treats.
“Everybody’s at home, and everybody’s eating,” said Jacquelyn Garcia, 39, who came to pick up food for her family of five. “I have nothing left in my house.”
Feed the children
Numbers of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches in school districts shut down by snow:
Philadelphia: 86,000
Baltimore: 50,000
Montgomery County, Md.: 43,000
Washington, D.C.: 32,000
Fairfax County, Va.: 32,000
