MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Broward County Schools have set up a way for students to receive a hot meal during closures.

For students in Miami-Dade, the district will provide free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch at all schools between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

According to the district, free and reduced meals are provided to more than 73% of students regularly.

Schools across the district took to social media to share the information.

M-DCPS also launched its remote learning program, Monday.

Additional services are being offered to hospital workers.

“We have partnered with outside entities like the YMCA to provide child care services [to those] who are children of employees of Jackson [Memorial Hospital],” M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. “Jackson is our premier safety-net hospital, and they need to not worry about their workforce being on-site ready to provide services to our community during these times of emergency.”

“Every healthcare provider, we want to make sure they’re out there doing all the work that’s necessary,” said Jackson Health System President and CEO Carlos Migoya. “With that, we want to make sure that their kids have a place to be so that they can be able to provide the healthcare that’s necessary to the entire community.”

To date, more than 500 children have been enrolled in the temporary childcare program at three different sites.

Over in Broward County, students and their family members were offered breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and lunch was provided from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The district collaborated with other agencies to help with the distribution process.

Feeding South Florida in Pembroke Park is one of the organizations teaming up to provide meals.

Their facility was packed with boxes of food being prepped by workers to be sent out to schools.

“We’re working with Palm Beach County school district, Broward County school district, Miami-Dade County school district to try to put some of these boxes into the hands and onto the tables of the families of the kids that are not going to school,” said Paco Velez with Feeding South Florida. “Fortunately, the school districts are trying to put the meals in the children’s hands.”

The dates for the meals continue Wednesday and Thursday No meals will be given out the following week because it’s their regularly scheduled Spring Break.

Meals will be provided at the following Broward schools:

  • Boyd Anderson High School
  • Blanche Ely High School
  • Dillard High School
  • Flanagan High School
  • Hallandale High School
  • Miramar High School
  • Nova High School
  • Sunrise Middle School
  • Taravella High School

Two additional schools are expected to be added on Wednesday.

“Meal distribution can be accessed by walking up or driving up to the designated location on campus,” Broward Schools wrote in a press release.

7News cameras captured staff members giving the meals to drivers as they pulled up beside a school.

Students must bring a valid school ID.

Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox