HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Local food banks are acting as the first line of defense in keeping families fed as the outbreak of coronavirus closes schools and disrupts community operations in Hampton Roads.

On Friday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that all Virginia schools will close for a minimum of two weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There are 30 positive cases of the disease in Virginia as of Friday afternoon, including cases in Virginia Beach and James City County.

School and business closures present a financial and food crisis for many families in Hampton Roads. Local food banks are working with community leaders to meet the needs of Hampton Roads residents, including thousands of children who rely on their schools to help feed them.

Virginia Peninsula Foodbank CEO Karen Joyner told 10 On Your Side there are more than 17,000 children on the Greater Peninsula who are “food insecure.” That number represents nearly 15 percent of children in Greater Peninsula communities who do not know where they will get food day-to-day.

Virginia Peninsula Foodbank staff are actively communicating with leadership in the Newport News, Hampton, and Williamsburg-James City County school districts to make plans for the continued feeding of children and their families while schools are closed.

Joyner said the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank will continue to distribute about 400 hot meals at 13 “kid cafe” locations on the Greater Peninsula. These meals are only served to children and cover the dinner portion of their nutritional needs.

The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank will continue to distribute food to families through their mobile food banks. The logistics of the mobile foodbanks are still being worked out to create environments where social distancing is possible along with food distribution, Joyner said.

“We are evaluating where we can partner with cities and perhaps do some additional distribution like we did during the government shutdown,” Joyner said.

Joyner said the foodbank is dealing with challenges as well: financial, food, and volunteer shortages; however, she believes the organization will be able to provide additional food distributions in the coming weeks to help families get through the crisis.

Two days before Northam announced that schools would be closed, 10 On Your Side reached out to Hampton Roads public school districts and asked for the number of homeless students and free-and-reduced eligible students in each community. We also asked how the schools would address the needs of hungry students in the event of a shutdown.

We have not heard back from every district, but we will add their answers to this article as we do:

Hampton

  • District plan: “Alternative feeding locations and times will be posted on the HCS website by 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2020. As far a communicating to ALL of our families, regardless of socio-economic status, we are doing our best to provide the most up-to-date information as we work through all aspects of the closing.”

Norfolk

  • Homeless students: Approximately 700
  • Free-and-reduced eligible students: 23,132
  • District plan:
  • NPS School Nutrition staff will pack meals and load them on a school bus. The bus will deliver meals to the three new sites on the following schedule on weekdays through Friday, March 27. If it becomes necessary to extend the closure an additional week, meal services will be provided through Friday, April 3, 2020. :
    • Titustown Recreation Center (7545 Diven St., 23505) at 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
    • Huntersville Community Center (830 Goff St., 23504) at 12 noon – 12:30 p.m.
    • Grandy Village Recreation Center (3017 Kimball Terrace, 23504) at 1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  • The 12 food distribution sites located at schools will continue to operate weekdays from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. through March 27. Those sites are:
    • Azalea Gardens Middle School,
    • Booker T. Washington High School,
    • Camp Allen Elementary,
    • Coleman Place Elementary,
    • James Monroe Elementary,
    • Lake Taylor School,
    • Norview Elementary,
    • Oceanair Elementary,
    • P.B. Young Elementary,
    • Southside STEM Academy,
    • St. Helena Elementary,
    • Suburban Park Elementary.

Chesapeake

  • Homeless students: 156
  • Free-and-reduced eligible students: 16,278
  • District plan: “In light of the Governor’s directive that schools be closed for two weeks, we are formulating a plan for ensuring these students will receive meals during the extended closing.”

Newport News

  • Free-and-reduced eligible students: 21,627
  • District plan: “NNPS now offers free breakfast and lunch to all students. The school division is working with the USDA and the Virginia Department of Education to offer meal service during the two-week closure.”
  • Beginning Thursday, March 19, and continuing through March 27, meals-to-go will be available for pick up at mobile sites from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each weekday. Families should look for the familiar yellow bus at the following locations:
    • Courthouse Way Community, Corner of Old Courthouse Way and Circuit Lane
    • Tillerson Community, Corner of Tillerson Drive and Alan Drive
    • Peninsula Boys and Girls Club, 429 Thorncliff Drive
    • Lee’s Mill Community, Corner of Lee’s Mill Drive and Charles Street
    • J. Clyde Area/Midtown (near Rite Aid), Forrest Drive and Woods Drive
    • Aqueduct Community, Corner of Colony Road and Aqueduct Drive
    • South Morrison Family Learning Center, 746 Adams Drive
    • Boys and Girls Club – Tyler Avenue, 95 North Tyler Avenue
    • Hogan Drive/City Center Area, Commercial Place behind WaWa
    • Marcus Drive/Abbington Landing/Waypoint Apartments, Cul-de-Sac at Marcus Drive
    • Circle Mobile Home Park, Front of Rental Office at 6029 Jefferson Avenue
    • Doris Miller Community Center, 2814 Wickham Drive
    • Boys and Girls Club – Greater Hampton Roads, 629 Hampton Avenue
  • Meals-to-go are also available at the following school locations each weekday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
    • An Achievable Dream Academy, 726 16th Street
    • Epes Elementary School, 855 Lucas Creek Road
    • Heritage High School, 5800 Marshall Avenue
    • McIntosh Elementary School, 185 Richneck Road
    • Newsome Park Elementary School, 4200 Marshall Avenue
    • Palmer Elementary School, 100 Palmer Lane
    • Warwick High School, 51 Copeland Lane

Portsmouth

  • Free-and-reduced eligible students: 77.35%
  • District plan: “Any child in Portsmouth in need of a meal during the school closure will be fed as part of our division’s Feeding Program. They do not have to be a PPS student, it is open to any child 18 and under. Beginning Monday, three sites will have breakfasts and lunches available: Churchland Middle, I.C. Norcom High School and Wilson High School. Breakfasts will be available from 8-9 a.m. and lunches available from 12-1 p.m.”
  • There are also other feeding sites in Portsmouth, as well. The city is serving lunch from noon to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5-7 p.m. at the following sites:
    • Social Services Building (1701 High Street)
    • Neighborhood Facility Recreation Center (900 Elm Ave.)
    • Cavalier Manor Recreation Center (404 Viking Street)
    • J.E. Parker Recreation Center (2430 Turnpike Road)

Suffolk

Williamsburg-James City County

  • Economically disadvantaged students: 35.3%
  • Students receiving weekly meal backpacks: 290
  • District plan: “We are currently working with the Foodbank to develop a plan to distribute meals to these students while schools are closed. This could involve setting up a pickup location in the parking lot of schools in certain neighborhoods, but the details have not been finalized yet. Relatedly, we are requesting a required waiver from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to serve food items at times and locations that are outside of VDOE regulations.”

Virginia Beach

  • District plan: Meals will be offered to all students without charge at various school sites throughout the district. The meals will be bagged an include both breakfast and lunch.
(Photo courtesy: VBCPS)