LAUSD to provide more than 1.5 million Thanksgiving meals to families

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- More than 1.5 million Thanksgiving meals will be distributed to Los Angeles Unified School District families in need on Wednesday through the district's Grab and Go centers, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Tuesday.

"This effort sounds like something out of the Guinness Book of World Records because I don't think any relief program has ever provided a million and a half meals in just one day,'' Beutner said.

A list of Grab and Go center locations can be found at achieve.lausd.net/Page/16904.

MORE: Snoop Dogg joins Rams, Chargers to help families in Inglewood

'It's not just me writing a check. I'm putting my foot on the pavement." Snoop Dogg was one of the volunteers happy to help the Rams and Chargers at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium, where 2500 families received Thanksgiving turkeys and all the trimmings.

Manish Singh, director of LAUSD Food Services, said the district has delivered 80 million meals to families in need since the onset of the pandemic in March. The meals to be distributed Wednesday will include sliced turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans.

It's been a team effort, which has helped us to get to that point, and I'm so grateful that we got this opportunity to serve our families,'' Singh said.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Beutner said LAUSD will not open schools until it is safe to do so, and current case numbers are still too high.

"Our goal is to provide families everything they need to make an informed decision about what's best for their child and their family,'' Beutner said. "Next week, school principals will review the information with their school communities.''

MORE: This nonprofit feeds 1,000 undocumented families a week

Many undocumented workers don't qualify for COVID-19 relief. One nonprofit in the Arts District is helping those families in need.

Beutner said LAUSD has tested more than 150,000 people of all ages, but said most of the people who are testing positive in the district have not been at schools and are asymptomatic.

"This past week has been sobering ... with the number of cases in Los Angeles area more than doubling in the past two weeks, including the highest daily count since the crisis began,'' Beutner said. "Job one for state and local authorities is to lead us down a path to reduce levels of virus.''

Beutner also said the district is partnering with Entercom Communications to help raise money to provide gifts and clothes to LAUSD families in need over the holiday season. People can text GIVER to 76278 to donate or visit LAStudentsMostInNeed.org for more information.