School lunches and community food banks
to support student meals

Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The school campus at Jefferson Somerset may have been closed to students on Monday, March 23, but school buses pulled into the school's driveway that morning – not to deliver students, but to pick up and then deliver lunches for the school's students.
“It takes a village and our village is pretty incredible,” wrote the school on a social media post showing the various district buses leaving the campus.
For some of the students at Jefferson Somerset, the school does more than provide education and oversight – it provides a steady midday meal for students whose families may be financially compromised.
“With the recent shutdown of all Florida schools, making sure our students have meals is a top priority of Jefferson Somerset,” stated the school over the weekend. “Beginning Monday, March 23, all children will receive a food delivery that will include lunch and breakfast for the next morning.”
Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered that all Floridian public schools remained closed for an additional week following Spring Break.
Several days later, though, on Tuesday, March 17, Gov. DeSantis announced that in response to the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), Florida's public schools would continue to be closed until Wednesday, April 15.
In addition to the prolonged closure, Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education chose to cancel whatever was left of the 2019-2020 school year's Pre-K and K-12 testing.
According to reports, DeSantis directed teachers to instead evaluate the requirements for course grades, grade promotion and graduation without considering the regularly-administered state tests.
While the closure of classrooms has shifted most of Florida's students to learning virtually from home, it has also posed a unique problem for students in financially constrained families.
Jefferson Somerset provides a free breakfast and lunch on campus to students, but without a campus and classroom to attend, many students were left without the school's free meals – meals that local families and parents relied on to assist in feeding their children.
In response to this problem, Jefferson Somerset launched their bused meals program, bringing the breakfast and lunches to the students with no cost from the parents.
Students who depended on the school's breakfast and lunches will be able to continue receiving the free meals, as the buses will be shipping the prepared food to the students.
On Sunday, March 22, Jefferson Somerset announced the school's Meal Distribution Plan. In order to receive a meal, students must be present at the bus drop-off site at 10 a.m.
For more information about drop-off times, bus routes and more, contact Jefferson Somerset at (850) 997-3555.

ROUTES

Bus #1 will be stopping at:
1285 W. Washington St.
The Montivilla neighborhood
Tallamont Road
Gamble Road
Main Street in Lloyd
The Lloyd Subdivision
Lloyd Acres
Christmas Acres
Piney Woods Road
Casa Bianca Road

Bus #2 will be stopping at:
Ulysses Road
Highway 259
Linton Road
Tin Top Road
Cody Road
St. Augustine Road (east)
St. Augustine Road (west)
Birdwell Trailer Park

Bus #3 will be stopping at:
South Waukeenah Street
Palmer Mill Road
Branch Street
Second Street
King Street
Park Street
East Clark Avenue
MLK Avenue
Pearl and Railroad Street crossing
York Street
Rhodes Street
See MEALS page 3
Rocky Branch
Chestnut Street
Florida Avenue
Mamie B. Scott Drive
Georgia Avenue
Mississippi Street
Fountain Drive
Highway 19 (north)
Boston Highway
West Lake and Oliver Lane
South Mulberry Street
Bowman Street

Bus #4 will be stopping at:
Ashville Highway
Bassett Dairy Road
Aucilla Shores 221
Highway 90 (west)
South Salt Road
Hartsfield Road
Flatwoods
Highway 90 (east)
Lonnie Road
Blue Lake Road
Thomas Road
Woodson Road
Kinsey Road

Bus #5 will be stopping at:
Tecumseh Road
Parkway Pines
Smiley Face
Barnes Road
Highway 19 (north)
Stateline Road
Fulford Road
The Dills Community
Dills Road

Bus #6 will be stopping at:
Hall Road
South Salt Road (Rocky Ford)
Barber Hill
The Lamont Subdivision
Turkey Scratch Road
Ed Bishop Road
Thompson Valley Road
Ebenezer Road
Patrick Road
Scottsville
WPA Road
Brown Cemetary
Freeman Road
Pineview Road
Nash Road
Aucilla Highway

In addition to Jefferson Somerset's food service, the Christ Episcopal Church Community Food Pantry will be holding a Food Share distribution on Friday, March 27, from 8 to 10:30 a.m., at 425 N. Cherry St.
Families and citizens are invited to come to this distribution, free of charge.