Verona’s Pizza House in Lehighton is giving free slices of pizza to the first 50 students each weekday until schools return from a state ordered shutdown in response to the coronavirus.

The decision, Verona’s employee Jacey Carr said, was all about helping out the children of the community.

“They’re off school and we just wanted to give them an option to come in, grab a slice and go home,” Carr said. “Usually, these kids are getting their weekday meals in schools, so without that available to them right now, we just wanted to help out.”

Two of the first Lehighton students to take advantage of the offer were Sean and Rachael Kennedy, a high school junior and fifth grade student respectively. They joined their friend Serenity Strohl shortly after noon. The trio expressed their gratitude to Verona for extending the offer to students.

“I think it’s great,” Sean said. “Some students really rely on school lunches and this gives them a choice during the time off to get something to eat.”

Monday was the first day off for students around Pennsylvania after Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday announced all K-12 schools in the state would be closed for at least two weeks. While no cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Carbon County, many Lehighton students are playing it safe when it comes to their plans for the break.

“The virus is spreading so much, you have to be really careful,” Rachael said. “I’m probably going to head over to my friend’s house. I’ll be staying local.”

Relly’s Deli in Bowmanstown is also offering a free lunch for Palmerton students from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the two-week school closure.

Panther Valley

Businesses and organizations in the Panther Valley area have also stepped up to sponsor meals, which will be distributed from the deck at the Batter’s Box in Summit Hill. The first week of meals include chicken fingers and fries on Tuesday, meatball hoagies on Wednesday, sliders on Thursday and pizza on Friday. Volunteers include Tara Yuricheck and Meridith Alabovitz, Jodi McAndrew and Maria Szczecina, Terri Williams and Jill Shelhammer, Ashley Schirer and Teri Yurick, and Tina Frets and Lori Devonshire. Sponsors include The Batter’s Box, the Irish American Association, the Summit Hill Italian Club, St. Joseph’s Church and Dave McAndrew.

Free breakfast and lunch will also be available, starting Tuesday, at Panther Valley Elementary in Nesquehoning, Panther Valley Stadium in Lansford, and Coaldale Borough Hall.

Northern Lehigh

The Northern Lehigh School District will offer all resident children (under 18 years old), including head start students who attend Peters Elementary School, a free Grab-N-Go lunch and breakfast beginning Tuesday. Students do not need to qualify for free or reduced lunch status to participate. Meals will be available daily, Monday through Friday.

To participate, parents/guardians should drive through the middle school driveway closest to the front of the school, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Alternatively, students who can safely walk to the school can also pick up their lunch/breakfast. Food services department staff will be there to hand out food packages and our school police officer will be there to direct traffic. Each package will include lunch and breakfast items for the next morning.

Palmerton

Palmerton Area School District is providing free lunch to all children through the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option program. This program is open to all school aged children in the community.

The meals will be distributed Monday through Friday for the duration of the closing. The first day of the program will be Wednesday. Parents who wish to participate in the program are asked to contact their building principal via email by 4 p.m. on Tuesday for lunch counts. If you have children in multiple buildings, please email the principal of the building where you will be picking the lunches up. Email addresses are as follows, phusar@palmerton.org for the high school, rdesocio@palmerton.org for the junior high school, mbrumbach@palmerton.org for S.S. Palmer and Parkside, and csteigerwalt@palmerton.org for Towamensing Elementary.

Lunch will be distributed to families and caregivers by a drive through / walk-up pick up daily from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Palmerton Area Junior/Senior High School, Towamensing Elementary parking lot and rear parking lot at S.S. Palmer Elementary.

At the high school, all cars should enter the parking lot on the east side (furthest from the stadium) and follow the route past the junior high school and up to the high school bus lane. Make a left onto the bus lane where the buses would exit during a normal school day. People will be there to distribute the bagged lunches. Only one car should enter the bus lane at any given time.

Towamensing Elementary’s pick up will be in the parking lot at the parent pick-up/drop-off location. Palmer and Parkside’s pick up will be in the rear parking lot near the cafeteria. Parents are asked to enter from Lafayette Avenue.

Children must be present for meals to be provided. Meals are meant to be taken home to eat. The district asks parents or caregivers to not get out of your car to enter the building. There will be people ready to assist you.

Lehighton

Lehighton Area School District is offering free breakfast and lunch for students starting Tuesday. Families and caregivers may drive thru and pick up meals at Lehighton Area Elementary Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for their children. Lunch and breakfast for the following day will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

Lunches will include sandwiches, fresh vegetables, fruit and milk. Cereal and other assorted breakfast items, along with a fruit, juice and milk, will be provided for breakfast. No congregating at the pickup location is permitted. Any questions, contact the food service department at 610-377-4490, ext. 4012, or dkubisek@lehighton.org.

Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe Area School District is offering free lunch for students starting Tuesday. Families and caregivers may drive thru and pick up meals at the Jim Thorpe Area High School main entrance and Penn Kidder Elementary parent drop off from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for their children. Lunch for the following day will be provided on a first come, first served basis. Meals will be given to children under 18 who are in the vehicle.

Lunches will include sandwiches, fresh vegetables, fruit and milk. No congregating at the pickup location is permitted. Any questions, contact the district office at 570-732-3900.

Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley School District will begin offering a free grab-and-go meal service beginning Tuesday between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon at the Pleasant Valley High School for district students in need during the school emergency closure. Families are asked to follow the direction of police officers and security personnel to drive up to the high school cafeteria (rear of building) area where meals will be brought out to their vehicle. One bagged lunch and one breakfast item will be provided for each child each day for as long as supplies last. Access to schools will not be permitted. Meals will be provided for all district children. Parents picking up meals will need to provide the school-issued, student ID numbers for their children or a driver’s license to pick up meals. Having student ID numbers will speed the process.