PSS rolls out Grab-and-Go meals as schools remain closed

With public schools still closed, the Public School System has rolled out Grab-and-Go meals so students can still get breakfast and lunch.

Dale Roberts, director of PSS’ Child Nutrition Program, said curbside pickup is running while campuses remain closed. The program is serving about 3,500 breakfast and 3,500 lunch meals a day across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

In Saipan, meals are being distributed at Tanapag, Garapan, Oleai, Kagman, Dandan Middle School, FMS Middle School, and Saipan Southern High School. On Tinian, distribution is at Tinian Elementary, while on Rota meals are available at Sinapalo Elementary and Dr. Rita H. Inos Jr./Sr. High School.

The program is set to run through this week and next, depending on updates from the commissioner and the Board of Education. If schools remain closed, it will move into a summer feeding program.

Roberts said, “The sheer fact that everybody is coming to pick up the meals for their kids means that there’s a need and we’re trying to make sure that we meet that need, because the kids are our clients. We want to make sure they have access to the meals because the schools are closed.”

The same vendors that normally supply the schools are preparing the food. At the Dandan site yesterday morning, more than 200 breakfasts and lunches had already been handed out, with cars moving through steadily and no long waits. While Marianas Press was there, students were also seen walking up to the campus to get their food themselves.