Let’s face it, getting four children out of the house – breakfast fed and lunches packed – and off to work each morning is no small feat. And now, imagine a pandemic in which you are an essential employee. You are on the front lines, fighting hard and holding on to the hope that this community health crisis will end soon and you and your family will return to some semblance of life as you knew it.

This Mom of four children, ages 3 to 11, is grateful for many things; and the Central Community Branch is ranked high on her list. During this community health crisis, the branch is offering emergency child care AND serves as a feeding site for the community in partnership with the Worcester Public Schools. Breakfast and lunch are available each day, and new this week, dinner is provided as well.

So let’s do the math: three meals a day – five days a week – for four children. That’s right – 60 meals a week help this one family, whose Mom is out helping many more people in Worcester. There’s even more! Every child in our emergency child care program receives a bag of meals to take home with them on Friday, which contains three meals a day for Saturday AND Sunday.

Since Emergency Child Care began on March 25, through our partnership, we have served 1,287 meals at the Central Branch as of the end of today. For this one family, our services continue to provide great assistance in such a challenging time. And for our community, we’ll continue to work hard and be there for those who need us most.