Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools understands that some of our families may be dealing with uncertainty during the government shutdown – especially if they are dependent on SNAP benefits to feed their children. Food security impacts more than student health. Having regular access to enough nutritious food can have a positive effect on a student’s academic performance, behavior, and attendance. Schools and districts play a vital role in ensuring that students and adults in the learning community have equitable access to affordable, culturally relevant, and nutritious foods. 

In addition to reminding our families that both breakfast and lunch are free of charge for all Savannah-Chatham County Public School students, we are working to compile a list of local places where you may be able to receive assistance. Some of those resources include Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, which has a contingency plan in place to assist a significant number of families in Chatham County. They have 40 established food pantry locations throughout the area. These organizations/pantries vary in times and days of operation to meet the needs of families. You can find information on these locations at this link: https://helpendhunger.org/find-food/. Simply enter your zip code or use the dropdown to choose "Chatham" and filter by county.  The search function will then list every location in our area.

The Community Resource Link below will take you to a website where you can find help and support for families with ALL basic need resources in the Savannah-Chatham County area: https://resource.findhelp.com/

The SCCPSS Engagement and Outreach Office is currently working in partnership with community organizations and food banks to identify all sites with stocked pantries. We have listed some options in the chart below. If you would like to share suggestions of additional resources, please contact: Penny.Maggioni@SCCPSS.com.

We will continue to update this list with options as we are alerted to them. Please speak with your school counselor or social worker if you are having trouble finding assistance.

To recognize the National School Lunch Program, serving nearly 30 million children each day, Savanna-Chatham County Public Schools will celebrate National School Lunch Week from October 13-17, 2025. The fun and creative campaign theme, “Taste The World: Your School Lunch Passport,” highlights the importance of a healthy school lunch to a student’s success both in and out of the classroom.

Research shows children are getting their healthiest meals at school. National School Lunch Week will highlight the nutritious foods available daily at SCCPSS schools. From our Farm to School efforts to serve fresh vegetables to contracts enabling us to serve local beef and seafood to our students, we are helping to teach our students about healthy eating each and every day.

“School lunches offer students fruits and vegetables, whole grains and milk, and meet federal nutrition standards limiting fat, calories and sodium,” said Diane Ganci, Executive Director of SCCPSS School Nutrition. “National School Lunch Week helps us educate parents and students about all the wonderful benefits of our lunch program.”

This year’s National School Lunch Week theme is: “Taste the World… Your School Lunch Passport.” Each day our cafeterias will highlight a featured entrée that represents a different country. On Thursday, both entrée options will celebrate China.

To make things fun for our students, we’ll also provide Passports and Stamps for Cafeteria Managers to hand out so students can collect a stamp each day they join us for lunch.

📌 Here’s the menu for the week:

• Monday, 10/13 – Holiday
  No School

• Tuesday, 10/14 – Italy

• Penne Alfredo with Chicken & Breadstick
• Blueberry & Strawberry Yogurt Parfait with Granola

• Wednesday, 10/15 – Cuba

• Classic Cubano Sandwich (Carnitas Pork, Ham, Swiss, Pickles & Mustard on Pressed Hoagie)
• Pizza Slice

• Thursday, 10/16 – China

• General Tso’s Chicken over Fried Rice(Breaded Chicken, Pepper & Onion mix tossed in General Tso's sauce over Fried Rice)
• Hunan Orange Chicken over Fried Rice(Breaded Chicken, Pepper & Onion mix tossed in Hunan Orange sauce over Fried Rice)

• Friday, 10/17 – Caribbean 

• Jerk Chicken over Caribbean Pasta (Creamy Bowtie Pasta with Jerk Chicken Drumsticks)
• BBQ Pork on Bun

The federally funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has been fueling students for success for 79 years. This year, thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision, ALL students can enjoy the convenience of a healthy school lunch completely free.  Lunch has been served free of charge to all SCCPSS students for more than a decade.

The “Taste The World: Your School Lunch Passport” campaign is made possible by the nonprofit School Nutrition Association. Parents and students can follow the fun on social media using the hashtags #NSLW25, #TastetheWorld and #SchoolLunch.

For more information on National School Lunch Week, visit SCCPSS.com and look for School Nutrition on the Families page or visit https://schoolnutrition.org/nslw/.