Updated Info on Emergency Meals for Kids and Senior Citizens
East Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Dori Leyko has announced a new protocol for the emergency system of getting meals to area children in light of yesterday’s stay-at-home order by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Meanwhile, the Tri-County Office on Aging will start meal distribution in East Lansing for area senior citizens.
Info for senior citizens: On Wednesday, March 25, the Tri-County Office on Aging will be distributing food at the parking lot of the East Lansing Hannah Community Center at 819 Abbot Road. Senior citizens age 60 and over will be able to get packs of seven frozen meals along with fruit, bread, and milk.
You must request a meal in advance. Call Tasha Stetler at 517-887-1393 to make a pick-up appointment, and be prepared to give your name, address, and birthdate. If you do not have a way to heat meals, let the person on the phone know this.
Info for emergency meals for children: The meal distribution that has been happening via the East Lansing Public Schools will be changing to be only once a week starting this week. It will now occur on Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. and the distribution will be at the East Lansing High School.
There will be no meal distribution tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25. Again, the new system will start this Thursday, March 26.
Meals are available for any child who is 18 years or younger and for any persons with special needs who is age 26 or younger, and a week’s worth of meals will be given for each person in that category. (You can pick-up for multiple people at once.)
People served through this program do not have to be enrolled in East Lansing Public Schools.
Those people coming for pick-up using a car should enter the high school campus via the entrance on Burcham Drive near the tennis courts. They should then follow the road to the left of the building all the way to the back of the high school.
Note that you should send the absolute minimum number of people needed for pick-up to avoid people being near each other. (Again, you can pick up for many people at once, including neighbors.) You should bring a box or laundry basket, if possible, but that is not required.
Don’t have a way to drive over? Email the superintendent email at dori.leyko@elps.us and tell her your name, the number of children you need meals for, and your address. She will get back to you with delivery arrangements. If you don’t have email, call her at (517) 333-7426.
The earliest school will restart in person is April 14. A page of information from the superintendent is available here.
Reminder to everyone: Remember to wash your hands well before and after meals and before and after any contact with other people. Continue to avoid being closer than six feet to people not in your household.
ELi has a special section dedicated to our reporting on COVID-19 for East Lansing. See it here and sign up for ELi’s mailer to stay informed