School District of Beloit provides 1 million meals to children since pandemic start

BELOIT, Wis. (WMTV) - The School District of Beloit reached a major milestone Wednesday in providing its one-millionth meal to children in the community since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March.

“Nutritional meals, and ready access to them is huge, not just for us as a school district but also as a community when we think about raising the next generation of leaders,” said superintendent Dr. Dan Keyser.

At the start of the pandemic, meals could be picked up at all elementary schools and Beloit Memorial High School five days per week. However, this wasn’t conducive for all families.

“We soon discovered that some families were not able to transport themselves or their children to our meal sites, so we began a home delivery service for those in need,” said Dr. Keyser. “This made our nutritional meals much more accessible to many more children.”

District officials explained they now provide seven days of breakfast and lunch for children to take home, one day per week.

Of those million meals, more than 48,000 gallons of milk, 60 pounds of fresh vegetables per family and 411,000 servings of fruit were all included among some of the items.

Meal pick-up is 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. every Wednesday. The district also has a food hotline for families to call for deliveries.

“This year has certainly taught everyone the importance of taking care of one another,” said Dr. Keyser. “We feel fortunate that we were able to help families and children through the challenges of this pandemic.