Eliminating food insecurity is an important strategy to ensuring students are able to read proficiently by the end of the third grade. However, through our Success by Third Grade work in local school districts, we’ve found that language barriers threaten access to free and reduced lunch for many Groveport Madison School District students.
Many young children attending Groveport Madison schools are not receiving a free or reduced lunch because their family is unable to complete the required application, which is only available in English. The school district has been incurring growing debt by providing unfunded free and reduced meals so all students in the district receive the same healthy lunch despite their ability to pay.
We are looking for multilingual volunteers who speak French, Nepali, Fulani, Creole or Spanish, and are willing to donate two to three hours during one evening to help local families complete the necessary forms.
In partnership with the district, Success by Third Grade is helping to organize an in-person call center event at the District Service Center (4400 Marketing Pl., Suite B, Groveport, Ohio 43125) during one evening in late November or early December where multilingual translators would be available to assist families with completing the form. A script will be provided.
Success by Third Grade staff convened Groveport Madison district leaders to discuss strategies to help ensure all eligible families are able to complete the application. As a result, we are committed to spreading awareness and mobilizing the community in support of local families and their students. Together, we can work to put all students on a pathway to success by the time they leave third grade.
Sign up to volunteer by emailing Aranne Moody at aranne.moody@uwcentralohio.org. Volunteers will be kept informed of details as they become available.
