Sac City Unified Provides Over a Million Meals Since Start of COVID-19 School Closures Celebrates School Lunch Hero Day
SACRAMENTO 鈥� Sacramento City Unified School
District is celebrating its role in combating hunger in
Sacramento by marking the distribution of the millionth meal
since school sites were closed due to the COVID-19 global
pandemic.
鈥淪ac City Unified is proud to provide nutritious meals to
thousands of students who might otherwise go hungry,鈥�
said Sacramento City Unified School District
Superintendent Jorge Aguilar. 鈥淢eeting the need for more
than a million meals over just seven weeks to combat hunger
demonstrates one of the vital roles of our schools. There are
many uncertainties ahead in the COVID-19 crisis that have
families understandably worried. Sac City Unified鈥檚 ongoing
student nutrition program is an important service that our
students and families can count on.鈥�
Thursday is also when Sac City Unified will celebrate School
Lunch Hero Day to recognize the 280 members of the District鈥檚
nutrition services team who prepare, distribute and serve meals
to students throughout the year.
鈥淲e would not have met the milestone of serving a million meals
without our School Lunch Heroes,鈥� said Sac City Unified
Board President Jessie Ryan. 鈥淥ur Sac City Unified
nutrition service team members literally move mountains of food
daily so our students can benefit from nutritious meals. From
managing our warehouse, cooking nutritious meals, directing
logistics to transport meals, and distributing meals to students,
our School Lunch Heroes are the face of our District during this
crisis and throughout our school year.鈥�
Sac City Unified distributes approximately 36,000 meals per day
Monday through Wednesday, including breakfast, lunch and a snack.
The district distributes twice that amount on Thursdays when it
provides meals to last students for two days. The meal menu
changes daily.
The district distributes meals Monday through Thursday at 31
school sites across the district, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30, or
while supplies last.
Sac City Unified prepares the meals for thousands of students
daily based on census data for youth in the community and demand
in compliance with the federal meal program. Each of the
district鈥檚 meal distribution sites completely distributes its
full supply of student meals each day.
To further combat hunger in Sacramento, Sac City Unified is
frequently joined by Patrick Mulvaney, head chef at Mulvaney鈥檚
B&L, who provides supplemental meal kits designed to provide
a dinner for a family of four. The supplemental family meal
kits are prepared by restaurant staff and can easily be cooked at
home. The supplemental meal kits are the result of a local
chef-driven initiative to put independent restaurants to work by
creating and distributing meals for at-risk populations during
the COVID-19 crisis.
Mulvaney has distributed over 3,200 family meals to help feed the
Sacramento community since the initiative
started.
For more information, including locations of Sac City Unified鈥檚
student meal distribution sites, visit Sac City Unified website
at www.scusd.edu.