Olivet Boys & Girls Club and Centro Hispano announced a partnership that will see the expansion of grab-and-go lunch meals for children to weekends, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Berks County.

The partnership will involve production and distribution of two grab-and-go meals per child, to be handed out at Olivet Boys and Girls Club locations on Saturdays, beginning Saturday, April 18th. The meals will be distributed between 12 PM and 1 PM at the following locations:

  • Oakbrook Club, 1161 Pershing Boulevard, Reading PA 19611
  • PAL Club, 325 Walnut Street, Reading PA 19601
  • Mulberry Street Club, 722 Mulberry Street, Reading PA 19604
  • Clinton Street Club, 677 Clinton Street, Reading PA 19601
  • Pendora Club, 330 South 19th Street, Reading, PA 19606

“Olivet Boys and Girls Club will do whatever it takes to help the many Berks County children facing hunger as we continue to see families being significantly impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chris Winters, President, and CEO of Olivet Boys and Girls Club.

Centro Hispano will be responsible for producing the meals and is mobilizing to assist Olivet by providing healthy lunch meals on the weekend for the children of Berks County.

“Centro Hispano is here on the frontlines partnering with Olivet to address the many food scarcity issues affecting the children of Berks County due to the COVID-19 crisis. We want to make sure the children have the opportunity to come to an Olivet site and receive two grab-and-go meals on weekends” said Michael Toledo, President, and CEO of Centro Hispano.

“By doing these meals on Saturday, Olivet, Centro Hispano, and our community partners will be helping to provide nutritional meals seven days a week throughout this crisis.”

All proper safety measures and CDC-required protocols will be adhered to and followed at all distribution sites. Parents will be able to bring the children via their vehicles, or the children may walk to the sites in order to pick up the meals.

“In combination with the weekday joint efforts with our partners at Reading School District, Helping Harvest, Reading Recreation Commission and United Way of Berks County, and now with this joint effort with Centro Hispano, we are addressing the food needs of the children of Berks County during this crisis throughout the course of the week,” stated Winters.

Click here to read the original article by Berks Weekly.