ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools says it’s urging families to take advantage of an expanded program that offers free meals — three meals, seven days a week — to all school-age children until December 17.

During the temporary program, families don’t need to qualify based on need or income. They merely need to show up at any OCPS school and pick up meals for their children, regardless of what school their children attend and whether they attend school at all, said Lora Gilbert, senior director of Food and Nutrition Services at OCPS.

All children, including toddlers, 18 and under are eligible, she said.

It’s part of a congressionally approved U.S. Department of Agriculture program that offers school systems across the country extended flexibility in the way they distribute meals amid the economic and logistical effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think Congress really understood that there were a lot of children who were going without meals because they're not in school,” Gilbert told Spectrum News 13 on Friday. For a lot of children, she said, school offers “the only opportunity for fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat proteins.”

Participation stands at about 40 percent of normal, but officials expect that to rise as more children return to school, where all children also receive free meals under the program. Parents also might not be aware that they can pick up meals at school, Gilbert said.

Also, she said: “It's a little humbling to get in line, and that's why I'm really trying to encourage parents to look at it this way: We’re helping pay back what they provided in the past and are probably providing at home right now. It’s difficult to figure out what to get for supper every single night. And this is what school food service has really focused on — how to get the kids to eat healthy and what that means.”

Parents can pick up the meals at any school on Mondays beginning 30 minutes after the final bell rings. Curbside service remains available for 90 minutes after that. Parents receive frozen meals that cover three meals a day through the weekend.

Parents must provide only their child’s or children’s names. Gilbert pointed out that because there’s no school on October 12, parents will receive meals for eight days instead of seven on Monday, October 5.

Even though families don’t need to qualify for the temporary program, Gilbert urged parents to apply on the OCPS website before the December deadline so their children will receive free or reduced-price meals for the rest of the school year after the temporary program expires.

Also, she said, the school system wants to demonstrate any need to the federal government. OCPS applies for grants that list the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced meals, she said.

“The whole district will benefit when we can show that there’s an economic need,” Gilbert said.