The Boulder Valley School District served its 1 millionth meal Monday through its food distribution program, providing meals to students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since BVSD’s in-person schools closed in March, the distribution has provided food on a weekly basis to help make up for the meals students lost without access to school cafeterias.

“Hunger in Colorado is spiraling out of control right now,” said Ann Cooper, BVSD director of food services. “I can’t give enough credit to our employees who have been on the frontlines since shutdowns began, making sure that our students remain well-fed.”

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Cooper said the program has had steady demand since March, but the number of families coming to receive meals has more than doubled in the last month.

Of program participants, 52% report having had their work hours cut during the pandemic, 30% report having lost their jobs and 20% report having had coronavirus-related health issues, according to a BVSD survey.

BVSD said many of those who use the program have never needed food assistance before and hadn’t qualified for free or reduced lunch before the pandemic.

BVSD partners with local businesses and community partners to provide the food distribution, including Boulder Organic, Aurora Organic Dairy, Impact on Education, Naturally Boulder, Conscious Alliance and Community Food Share.

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“Our longstanding partnership has grown immensely this year to meet the increased needs of our community,” said Kim Da Silva, executive director of Community Food Share. “Our food bank is proud to provide fresh produce, milk, meat and pantry staples to the School Food Project.”

The BVSD food distribution is available to any family with a child 18 years old or younger.

Families receive 10 to 14 meals for each child in their household through a contactless drive-through. Provided food includes both ingredients and prepared meals.

Distributions are held every Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at seven participating schools and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at a district administration location. Addresses are available online at food.bvsd.org.