Jennifer Williams and T.J. Orszulak get a “grab and go” meal from Damar Jones at the Westfield Boys and Girls Club March 17. (MARC ST. ONGE/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
WESTFIELD – The Greater Westfield Boys and Girls Club and the Westfield Public Schools’ free Grab & Go meal programs have expanded, with additional locations and more meals being offered.
As of March 19, Powder Mill Village, Edgewood Apartments, Colonial Pine Acres complex and Franklin Avenue Elementary School, along with the Boys and Girls Club facility, are sites for afternoon Grab & Go pickup.
Afternoon pickup at Franklin Avenue School, Colonial Pine Acres, Edgewood and Powdermill is Monday-Friday, 5-6 p.m.
“We will have the Club van and two staff handing out meals,” Club Chief Advancement Officer Bo Sullivan said.
The Boys and Girls Club location pickup is from 4:30-6:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
The school department currently offers Grab & Go lunch, as well as breakfast for the following day, at Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue elementary schools from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Starting March 23, Colonial Pine Acres on Southampton Road and Powdermill Village on Union Street will also have lunch/breakfast to-go from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
The program will continue while school is not in session due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sullivan said the state asked the Club to add the sites as an extension of its summer meal program.
“They asked and we said yes,” Sullivan said.
Funding for the meal programs comes from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
All locations will offer the same lunch and dinner meal; a sandwich, fruit, vegetable, beverage and snack. Breakfast will vary and likely include a cereal. Anyone under age 18 is eligible for the meals.
Sullivan said there were about 80 meals distributed the first night and he expects that will increase quickly.
“We think as more people find out about it and as we get further into the weeks, more residents will utilize this,” he said. The summer meal program distributes up to 600 meals a day.
Westfield Public Schools is able to offer up to 700 meals per day.
