One thing that has remained a shining light for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic are the people at Manitowoc’s elementary schools that are handing out free meals for students.
We spoke with Chris Taylor, who was still giving out meals at Franklin Elementary School, and she said lots of things have changed since we last spoke with her, including how they serve the food. “We can no longer bring the food to the car,” Taylor explained. “What the people do now is they drive up, one car at a time. They will tell us how many they need, we put them on the table, they come out and grab the meal and go.”
They have changed their menu a little bit, however. When they first started, they were handing out sandwiches as the main entrée, but that is no longer the case. “We now do hot meals,” Taylor told SeehaferNews.com. “They make it at the MSC, and transport it here.” This is the case at all five meal service sites, those being Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and McKinley Elementary Schools.
When we last spoke with Chris, she told us they were serving roughly 150 meals every day, but that number has since skyrocketed. She told us that on their busiest day they served 333 meals just at Franklin Elementary School. She said they now serve an average between 280 and 300 each Monday, which is their busiest day. She also wanted to make sure everyone was aware that all students are allowed to get a meal, even if they are not a part of the Manitowoc Public School District.
Chris also said that the people giving out the food cannot accept any monetary donations, so any money that is gifted will go directly to the PTO, who will decide how that money would be spent. Food is served at all five locations between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
