Spreading the word: Free meals available for families with children

Jeremiyah Bradley, 11, a sixth-grader at King Elementary School in Kansas City, and his mother, Ashley Sutherland, picked up free bagged lunches at a Children’s Mercy Hospital clinic, 3101 Broadway in this photo by Tammy Ljungblad, The Kansas City Star.

Children’s Mercy’s Kids Eat Free! program is offering free meals for families with children.

UPDATE, April 10: The school district announced it is resuming food service April 13. The worker presumed positive with COVID-19 tested negative.

The Kansas City Public Schools had handed out more than 65,000 meals before it abruptly suspended its service Monday after a worker was presumed to be positive with coronavirus.

Now what?

Many other services have also been offering free meals, but the first week without KCPS meals has some providers worried that parents and guardians are not getting the message of where they can go.

“This really concerns me,” Children’s Mercy spokeswoman Lisa Augustine told The Kansas City Star. “Where are the kids going? Maybe we need to rethink our strategy in reaching families at this time.”

Get your LINC COVID-19 updates here.

Children’s Mercy’s Kids Eat Free! program is one of several opportunities for families in the Kansas CIty area to get nutritional meals during the shutdowns and job-loss of the pandemic.

The Kansas City Public Schools has published an expansive list of options on its coronavirus information pages.

The resources include information compiled by Uncover KC, whose food resources page includes an interactive map to find food resources.

Harvesters is also ramping up nutrition services and provides an interactive locator to find food pantries near you.