Joliet Public Schools District 86 offers families the opportunity to pick up weekly free meals for any children 18 years old and younger. Meals are available for curbside pick-up at the school district’s four junior high schools.
Meals are available every Thursday from 6:30-7:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at Dirksen, Gompers, Hufford, and Washington Junior High Schools. Families may receive up to one week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches per child each week. Child’s names are not required at the pick-ups, but face masks are required.
The curbside distributions occur in the Midland Avenue (south of Jefferson Street) parking lot at Dirksen, the Briggs Street (south of U.S. 6) parking lot at Gompers, the Ingalls Avenue (west of Larkin Avenue) parking lot at Hufford, and the Fourth Avenue parking lot (east of Richards Street) at Washington Junior High School.
Joliet Public Schools District 86, the fourth largest elementary school district in Illinois, has provided over 758,500 meals for children since the school closure in mid-March 2020.