Jordan Beck | Daily Press Cole Bougie, owner of Viau’s Market, prepares sack lunches to hand out to local students in need Tuesday. After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all public and private schools in Michigan to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, local school districts and businesses have stepped up to provide meals to students who need them in the community.

ESCANABA — Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all public and private schools in Michigan to close due to the coronavirus pandemic – but, for some local students, school lunches are their most reliable source of food. Fortunately, area school districts and businesses have stepped up to meet this need in the community.

Jay Kulbertis, superintendent for the Gladstone and Rapid River school districts, said these districts will be providing free food packages for all of their students today on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We do distribution from two of our schools at set times,” he said of food distribution efforts in Gladstone.

In Gladstone, packages containing three days worth of breakfast and lunch for students are being made available in the rear parking lot at James T. Jones Elementary School and the parking lot at W.C. Cameron Elementary School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday. Families who would like to pick up food packages but cannot make it to the schools during this window are encouraged to call their school building to make alternative arrangements.

Food packages are being distributed in the rear parking lot of Rapid River’s school building from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, as well.

As of Tuesday, plans for the future distribution of food packages in Gladstone and Rapid River were still being developed. When these plans are announced, they will be posted on the districts’ Facebook pages (located at “Gladstone Area Schools” and “Rapid River Public Schools”) and websites (www.gladstoneschools.com and www.rapidriver.k12.mi.us).

Originally, Kulbertis said his districts had partnered with the Dewdrop Family Restaurant in Gladstone and Jack’s Restaurant in Rapid River to provide additional opportunities for families in need to get free meals. However, he said the partnerships could be impacted by another order from Whitmer that required all Michigan restaurants and bars to close to dine-in customers.

“It looks like that’s going to limit options for families,” he said.

Still, he thanked the businesses for their support.

“We were very pleased with that offering, obviously,” Kulbertis said.

At Escanaba Area Public Schools, food boxes meant to provide meals to local students were available for drive-thru pickup in the west parking lot of Escanaba Area High School from 2 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. The boxes contained enough food for students to have breakfast and lunch for the rest of the week.

Additional food box distribution events in Escanaba have been scheduled for Friday, March 20 and Monday, March 30. Both of these events will take place in the same location and at the same times as Tuesday’s event.

People picking up food boxes are asked to enter the west side of the high school parking lot from 3rd Ave. South and follow the designated driving lane to the pickup zone near the west entrance. There, school employees will help check them in and load food boxes into their vehicle. In most cases, people will not have to leave their vehicle to pick up food boxes.

Businesses and organizations that have made donations towards Escanaba Area Public Schools’ food boxes include Gordon Food Service, Meijer, Elmer’s County Market, the Community Foundation for Delta County and Aunt Millie’s Foods.

Local businesses have also been introducing their own programs to provide lunches to students in need while school closures continue. One of the first local businesses to do so was Viau’s Market in Escanaba.

“I was talking with my sister and my mom … our hearts just went out to the kids,” owner Cole Bougie said.

According to Bougie, Viau’s started offering lunches for students in need Monday.

“If a kid comes in, we’ve got sandwiches made and we’ll put them together a healthy sack lunch,” he said.

The sack lunches include sandwiches, juice boxes, chips, applesauce and fruit snacks. On Monday, the store distributed 16 sack lunches.

Other local businesses have begun to offer similar programs, as well.

“I’m happy to have sparked the match,” Bougie said.

Along with Dewdrop and Jack’s, area businesses that Bougie said have started providing free food to local students during school closures include Drifter’s Restaurant, Highland Golf Club, Mo’s Pub, Sav-Mor IGA, Rainbow Packing and Wilson Creek Gardens.