Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 4-17-20

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Get It Straight Foundation Partners With Local Church To Distribute Hot Meals On Good Friday
Get It Straight Foundation, Inc., partnered with Holy Trinity for Coronavirus Good Friday. Hot meals were served with a dessert. They also distributed tracks and sandwiches to go. Those in attendance received a hygiene bags with a wash cloth, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, mouthwash, and other toiletries.
Despite COVID-19, social distancing, 6’ spacing, some of the less fortunate still need help, states Rechi Butler, founder of Get It Straight Foundation.
USF Updates Spring Commencement Plans
Virtual ceremonies scheduled for May with Au- gust in-person ceremonies expanded to accommodate spring graduates
The University of South Florida Wednesday announced plans to uniquely recognize the thousands of spring graduates who won’t be able to participate in traditional commencement ceremonies in May due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
USF will expand the number of in-person summer com- mencement ceremonies, tenta- tively scheduled for Aug. 6-9, to provide spring graduates an op- portunity to participate.
Summer commencement plans are contingent upon ongo-
ing guidance from federal, state and local government and pub- lic health officials regarding large gatherings.
USF will also host a virtual commencement ceremony in May for each USF campus, fea- turing recognition of the Out- standing Graduate Award winners and graduates who earned a 4.0 GPA, as would tra- ditionally occur during an in- person ceremony.
The virtual ceremonies will also include remarks from President Steven Currall, each USF campus student body president and other university leaders. Ceremonies will in- clude conferring of the degrees and the names of each individ- ual graduate on screen. The cer-
emonies will be available for viewing beginning on Saturday, May 9, the weekend originally planned for commencement.
USF is also developing cre- ative plans for graduates to in- teract from afar via social media. More details on this campaign will be shared with students soon.
“I’m deeply sympathetic to our spring 2020 graduates who have had their final semester impacted by the coronavirus in ways no one could have imag- ined,” President Currall said in messages addressed to stu- dents.
USF will also make printed copies of the spring commence- ment ceremony program avail- able to graduates upon request.
Schools To Revamp Grab-And-Go Meal Program
As Hillsborough County Public Schools continue to nav- igate CDC recommendations for social distancing and the state’s stay-at-home order, our district is committed to keeping our students, families and our staff safe.
Beginning Wednesday, April 15, the district will change its Grab and Go meal distribu- tion practices to minimize con- tact between families and our staff.
Families will be able to pick up a week’s worth of food, once a week instead of traveling to a
site every day. Families can pick up the meals every Wednes- day between 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. The district will continue to offer the Grab and Go meals at 147 school sites.
For locations, please visit our website, Hillsborough- Schools.org.
These meals will include, but not limited to, one pound of lunchmeat, one loaf of bread, milk, juice, and nutritious snacks for the week. Our Grab- and-Go sites have had a tremendous impact on our community, providing more
than 1 million meals so far, for students during this extended closure. The district’s goal is to ensure every learner has access to nutritious meals, even when they are not physically at school.
This new plan will protect the dedicated teams in Student Nutrition Services and trans- portation by drastically mini- mizing their contact with the public. The staff in student nu- trition will rotate their schedule during the week to prepare meals while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Bus driv- ers will also continue to extend meals within specific areas of our community every Wednes- day.
It is important to note that each student will receive a bag with cold food that must be re- frigerated, along with another bag of snacks. The bags will weigh more than 10 pounds col- lectively, so parents and stu- dents who are walking up to receive meals should plan ac- cordingly. The district suggests using your child’s empty back- pack to store food on the way back home.
Meals are available to ALL children 18 years old and younger, and students with spe- cial needs under the age of 21. For additional information, along with a list of frequently asked questions about the pro- gram, please visit Hillsborough- Schools.org/coronavirus/graba ndgo.
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