WHEREAS, This past weekend Snow Storm Jonas hit the Northeast resulting in total of 22.4 inches of snowfall in Philadelphia, the fifth greatest calendar snowfall ever recorded in the City; and
WHEREAS, Due to the snow, The Philadelphia School District officially closed schools for two days this week, Monday the 25th and Tuesday the 26th of January; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 80% of Philadelphia Public and Charter School students meet income guidelines to qualify for free and reduced school lunches; and
WHEREAS, According to the Hunger Coalition, approximately 200,000 thousand meals are served daily to needy children in Philadelphia in public and archdiocese schools; and
WHEREAS, Many Philadelphian families depend on the free and reduced lunches to feed their children during the week and do not have the financial means to provide two meals a day for their children when school is closed; and
WHEREAS, In wake of last weekend’s snow storm, Washington D.C., in a pilot program, opened 10 schools around their city on Monday to serve breakfast and lunch to needy families, even though their schools were not officially in session that day; and
WHEREAS, In response to the D.C. pilot program the School District of Philadelphia expressed that our City does not have the infrastructure to support such an effort; and
WHEREAS, We recognize that the needs of our City’s children come first and that further investigation is needed before we can claim that a similar program is not possible in Philadelphia; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the City Council of Philadelphia, Does authorize the joint City Council Committees on Education and Housing, Neighborhood Development and the Homeless to hold public hearings to examine the feasibility of having a pilot program in Philadelphia to feed needy children when schools are closed due to emergencies.
End