Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:500 meals served today

Besides the 250 Kaya ate and 200 eaten/taken by volunteers, essential personnel who showed up & their buddies, how many families were fed?

Don't want to be doubting Thomas, but can't imagine there being 500 meals served to needy families either. I saw a handful of people out and about in my neighborhood today, and the few I did see were not going to eat a hot meal of carrots and hotdogs at a DCPS school. However, think it was a good idea but not really planned out. Also, agree that in this day and age the image of the starving child is a more of a myth. Access to cheap food, schools serving breakfast, lunch, and after school meals and the availability of foodstamps has helped play a role in this. Now whether the food is quality food or healthy is another issue. Now whether a child has access to other resources is another issue. I give after-school children additional treats that I purchase and they gobble them up, not because they are hungry but they certainly don't get what I would call treats. As the other poster state gift cards were wanted instead, I don't actually see anything wrong with that though.

Anonymous wrote:500 meals served today

Besides the 250 Kaya ate and 200 eaten/taken by volunteers, essential personnel who showed up & their buddies, how many families were fed?

500 meals served today

if even one child was fed, I'm happy.
Signed,
Often Hungry as a Child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I predicted.

Dangerous snow conditions that require people to stay off the streets is just that! Ppl were not venturing out unless there was TRUE need, which obviously there was/is not. The starving child that schools must remain open for simply does not exist in the large numbers DCPS likes to claim.

Social programs like food stamps and food banks ensure that at least people are able to eat.

I work with homeless families and find this to be true. The one area where they are very well covered is food. Other services/items not so much. Often when we offer food donations they are turned down because the families get plenty of food stamps and don't need any more food. In fact, where we normally give grocery gift cards out at holidays, families requested to be given restaurant gift cards instead so they take their children out to eat. So that's what we did.

Seriously? This actually makes me angry. People above the poverty level don't do this because of the cost and because they can't afford it. People who do manage to donate to food banks. And people who normally benefit from that turn around and ask for GIFT CARDS to restaurants? I always believed charity starts at home (meaning locally or your own country), but maybe I'll rethink that.

I don't think I would be trudging all the way in the snow for one of those terrible lunches that DCPS serves.

It might have been smarter to send kids home with snacks like fruit, string cheese, etc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I predicted.

Dangerous snow conditions that require people to stay off the streets is just that! Ppl were not venturing out unless there was TRUE need, which obviously there was/is not. The starving child that schools must remain open for simply does not exist in the large numbers DCPS likes to claim.

Social programs like food stamps and food banks ensure that at least people are able to eat.

I work with homeless families and find this to be true. The one area where they are very well covered is food. Other services/items not so much. Often when we offer food donations they are turned down because the families get plenty of food stamps and don't need any more food. In fact, where we normally give grocery gift cards out at holidays, families requested to be given restaurant gift cards instead so they take their children out to eat. So that's what we did.

Exactly! Food is the one area in which they do not lack. Many teachers have attested the kids do not eat the lunches. They also never lack junk food. Tons of it. Every single day.

Maybe today's bust will prove to the powers that be what we've been saying all along.

Anonymous wrote:As I predicted.

Dangerous snow conditions that require people to stay off the streets is just that! Ppl were not venturing out unless there was TRUE need, which obviously there was/is not. The starving child that schools must remain open for simply does not exist in the large numbers DCPS likes to claim.

Social programs like food stamps and food banks ensure that at least people are able to eat.

I work with homeless families and find this to be true. The one area where they are very well covered is food. Other services/items not so much. Often when we offer food donations they are turned down because the families get plenty of food stamps and don't need any more food. In fact, where we normally give grocery gift cards out at holidays, families requested to be given restaurant gift cards instead so they take their children out to eat. So that's what we did.

Anonymous wrote:Good intentions. I'm glad they at least tried to address the issue of hunger when school is out. It was an emergency response to an emergency situation. Like warming stations during hypothermia alerts.

If the school locations complement other service locations, e.g. close to shelters or low-cost housing, then it makes sense to use their kitchen capacity in emergencies. Clustering support services in a one stop shop can encourage people that it's worth the effort and risks to get there.

Maybe DCPs could offer food and volunteer tutoring or homework help or educational activity during emergencies more than one school day? I'm not sure how this would work. But if the building is open from 10am-2pm, why not provide some support in addition to food?

Instead of it being a DCPS responsibility it should be a community service responsibility, so who ever normally operates the warming stations and cooling centers it should be at the same location, then people always know where to go in an emergency. It would also ensure that volunteers would no where to go to offer help.

As I predicted.

Dangerous snow conditions that require people to stay off the streets is just that! Ppl were not venturing out unless there was TRUE need, which obviously there was/is not. The starving child that schools must remain open for simply does not exist in the large numbers DCPS likes to claim.

Social programs like food stamps and food banks ensure that at least people are able to eat.

Good intentions. I'm glad they at least tried to address the issue of hunger when school is out. It was an emergency response to an emergency situation. Like warming stations during hypothermia alerts.

If the school locations complement other service locations, e.g. close to shelters or low-cost housing, then it makes sense to use their kitchen capacity in emergencies. Clustering support services in a one stop shop can encourage people that it's worth the effort and risks to get there.

Maybe DCPs could offer food and volunteer tutoring or homework help or educational activity during emergencies more than one school day? I'm not sure how this would work. But if the building is open from 10am-2pm, why not provide some support in addition to food?

Families at my kids school were asking about food on Thursday, worried about impact of closings on their food budget. It's a real concern.

I think also, unless you lived within about 10 blocks of those schools, it would be very hard to get to those locations. I know in my neighborhood, the nearest location was over a mile away and we would have had to walk in the street the whole way. Wouldn't have been a good option for us. I'm glad they did it though. I'm sure whoever ventured out really needed the food.

I think it's over estimated about kids not getting fed in DC. Sure some families sell their food stamps, but I sure they all keep top ramen in the house.

Don't know how to post tweet but "Ppl call it a blessing but hardly anyone showed at 2 (of 10) #DC schools offering free lunches today. Why? @wusa9 " on WUSA9 twitter feed. I hope that food did not go to waste!! Good idea but not thought out plan. I wonder how many knew about it? As many teacher attest a lot of kids don't eat the food. As others stated, it is only day 2 of storm that school not open and Browser and others did a good job of informing people about storm and need to stock up. Al to of neighborhood locations in DC have corner stores, not great but often stay open even in storm. Better to provide food to homeless, homebound, and seniors.