Free food for SFUSD students at library during strike
The City of San Francisco and libraries are providing free lunches to SFUSD students during teachers strike. SF Marin Food Bank is also providing temporary home delivery of 20-25 lbs of food for students impacted by strike and school closures.Â
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco’s Main Library staff say they are busier than usual, as families impacted by the teachers’ strike and school closures looked for places to take their children. The staff is preparing to support families as school closures are set to continue Wednesday.
Libraries seeing spike in visitors
“This morning I’ve been looking at the data. Visits are up 34.4%,” Michael Lambert, the San Francisco City Librarian, said on Tuesday. “Yesterday we saw 21.6% more visitors year-over-year system-wide. And the main library visits were up nearly 1,000 visitors yesterday…We are here to support youth and families and we are a place of enrichment. We have all these wonderful books, free printing, free high speed internet, and lots of learning opportunities.”
“Eight years old is the cutoff for a school age child to be left unattended in the library. So any younger than 8 years old, we want the parent of caregiver with them,” Lambert said.
“We’ve been meeting friends who are also at SFUSD,” Finn Smylie, an SFUSD student said. He was there with his mother Sharon Kelly.
“Just keeping him entertained, keeping up with reading as well. Keeping him busy,” Kelly said. Â
Free food extended for students
It wasn’t just books and computers that were available, but free lunch and snacks were also offered in partnership with the city’s Department of Children, Youth and their Families. Each child received a bag with fresh fruit, carrots, bread, sunflower seed butter, and other snacks.
“It’s really good, especially for families, low income for example, that it’s really difficult for them to have the kids at home,”Â
Tatiana Ariza, a San Francisco parent, said.
The DCYF Executive Director Sherrice Dorsey-Smith says they plan to continue ramping up free meals as needed on Wednesday, and offer heartier meals for students if schools are closed Thursday.
“We provided over 2,300 meals today and what we’re doing is taking stock which sites are getting frequented the most and being able to shift and adjust accordingly,” Dorsey-Smith said. “We did 30 sites yesterday. We’re doing 42 today, but we have a total of 55 sites that are feeding children in one way or another.”
SF-Marin Food Bank free food for SFUSD students
The San Francisco Marin Food Bank is also trying to help. Families impacted by the school closures can get a temporary supply of 20-25 pounds of groceries delivered to their home.
https://panda.sfmfoodbank.org/homedelivery
Other resources
The San Francisco Unified School District has posted a resource page for families with lists of community organizations that are offering paid or free activities for students, and daycare for families that are struggling.
Other families are holding informal meetups for their children at private homes.
The Children’s Council of San Francisco say they have received 85 calls about emergency temporary child care assistance during the strike, and encourage families with children ages 0-5 to call or email if they need assistance.Â
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