Malden Buying Food Truck To Deliver Meals To Struggling Families

MALDEN, MA — The Malden Public Schools has been awarded a Food Security Infrastructure grant for $110,309 to buy a food truck. The district will use the truck to give Malden students in need free and nutritious meals on a regular basis.

Administrators applied for the grant in early August, as families faced the challenge of traveling to schools to pick up meals while balancing work and remote learning. The pandemic has led to a rise in food insecurity across the country, and the Malden Public Schools wanted to ensure that students would have access to free meals both during the school year and in the summer.

The truck will travel throughout the city and bring food to neighborhoods.

"These unprecedented times have posed a number of significant challenges to our students and their families," Mayor Gary Christenson said. "We are grateful to point person Toni Mertz and the innovative thinking that has resulted in this award which will allow us to serve a greater number of families and hopefully make life a bit easier for them during such difficult times."