Orange County mothers given ‘okay’ to deliver free meals to kids in need

District changes rules when it comes to meal distribution

School districts are changing the way students receive meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL - After a group of moms volunteering to pick up extra meals for students in need were turned away, FOX 35 asked questions of school officials. A day later, those volunteers were able to get as many meals as they needed.

“We have food, so why can’t they have food, as well?” asked Jocelyn Dagenais, who has been delivering meals to kids in need.

Orange County mother Kelli Langton was asking the same question, after she tried picking up extra meals for students, whose parents couldn’t make it to the School Districts distribution sites. She came to FOX 35 News for help, so we went to the district to see what was going on. The district then requested changes to distribution policies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the rules were changed.

“Now, we get to take care of all these children and feed them,” said Kelli Langton, delivering food to kids in need.

Friday morning, the volunteer delivery moms allowed to pick up as many meals, as long as they had a valid student’s name.

“We were greeted with happy staff members that were absolutely ecstatic to see us and could not have been more helpful,” said Langton.

The Good Samaritans, now planning to feed 63 kids, who may have gone hungry, otherwise.

COVID-19 student meal distribution policies

A group of Central Florida moms have been delivering school district-provided meals to students in need. However, about a week ago, they say they were no longer allowed to pick up the extra meals, so they came to FOX 35 News for help.

“We are just so pleased we were able to make a change and FOX 35 was able to help us, so quickly, we want to thank the district, so much, for looking into this and making this change, nowadays, everything is changing so rapidly and we have to make adjustments to what normal policies are,” said Langton.

“We really appreciate it out here,” said Natasha Clark, mother in need.

Natasha Clark is one of those parents who can’t pick-up meals for her three kids. Her car broke down, recently, she can’t afford to fix it, right away.

“It’s amazing that we have people out here in the community willing to help us, there’s a lot of parents out here that I know cannot make it to the school,” said Clark.

She’s not the only one touched by these acts of kindness, it’s heart-warming, all around.

“It feels good to help out and help all the children, who are in need, who like can’t get food,” said Aiden Langton, delivering meals to kids in need.

“We just really like helping friends that we’ve seen in school,” said Dagenais.

More good news, Orange County Public Schools launched weekend meals Friday. So, these kids in need got an extra couple meals with today’s delivery.