TERRE HAUTE, IN—The Vigo County School Corporation, in response to COVID-19’s impact on our community, is launching its first-ever summer-long grab-and-go feeding program.

Starting June 1, Vigo County children can visit North Vigo High School, South Vigo High School, and West Vigo Elementary School on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11-noon. Children will get a breakfast, a lunch, and two milks per day. Mondays and Wednesdays will be double-serving days, and students will receive extra items from the Backpack Program on Fridays. The sites will continue the grab-and-go meal protocols used in this spring’s emergency feeding program. Parents and caregivers can visit the site and tell the staff how many children they’re picking up for; children do not need to be present at pickup.

The district had previously held summer feeding programs only during Math Magic-Reading/Writing Wonders at Woodrow Wilson Middle School and during summer school programming.

“This summer is like no other for the most vulnerable children in our community,” said Bill Riley, VCSC director of communications. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and we’re thankful that our food service employees have the desire and capability to serve our children through the summer.”

This spring, the Vigo County School Corporation partnered with volunteers from nonprofit, faith-based, and county government organizations to offer 33 feeding sites around the county. This emergency feeding program averaged 23,000-30,000 meals weekly. The inaugural summer feeding program intends to distribute the same quantity of meals.

The emergency program currently in place will continue through the end of May. The program will not run on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. Instead, children will receive a double serving on Friday, May 22.

“We thank our community partners for their selfless volunteer work over the last two months,” said Riley. “They showed up consistently for weeks, in a pandemic, all out of their love for our community’s children.”