Nassau County students and families experiencing homelessness or unstable housing will receive food boxes delivered directly to their homes through a new partnership involving the school district's food services, homeless education program and police department.

The Nassau County School District announced the initiative, called "From Food Services to Front Doors," on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The program aims to remove transportation barriers that prevent some families from accessing food assistance.

Each box contains enough food to provide support for up to seven days, according to the district's announcement.

The effort involves elementary school resource officers across the district, although officials have not identified which campuses are participating.

School officers help overcome transportation barriers

Trevor Kennedy, the district's Food and Nutrition Services director, provided pallets of food boxes for students and families receiving assistance through the federal McKinney-Vento homeless education program.

Mollie Cressey, the district's McKinney-Vento liaison, coordinated distribution to eligible families.

As the effort developed, staff discovered that some families lacked transportation to collect their supplies. The boxes were also too large to send home with students on school buses.

The district's police department stepped in to help.

Under Police Chief D.J. Valentine's leadership, elementary school resource officers began working with Cressey to deliver boxes directly to participating families after school hours.

The district identified Officer Caldwell as one of the officers preparing food deliveries.

The partnership allows families facing transportation difficulties to receive food assistance without arranging a trip to a school or distribution location.

Who qualifies for McKinney-Vento assistance?

The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act protects the educational rights of children and teenagers who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.

Students may qualify if their families are temporarily staying with relatives or friends because of housing loss or financial hardship, living in hotels or motels because they lack adequate alternatives, staying in emergency shelters or experiencing other forms of housing instability.

The program helps eligible students enroll in school, attend classes consistently and access educational resources despite housing disruptions.

Families do not necessarily have to live in a shelter to qualify.

The district has not disclosed how many Nassau County students currently receive McKinney-Vento services or how many families will receive food deliveries through the new initiative.

How Nassau families can request assistance

Parents and caregivers who believe their children may qualify for McKinney-Vento assistance can contact their child's school or district liaison Mollie Cressey.

District staff can help determine eligibility and connect families with available educational and support services.

Additional information is available through the district's McKinney-Vento and Families in Transition program.

Families seeking other food assistance can also contact their schools about meal programs and free or reduced-price meal applications.

The food delivery initiative brings together three district departments to help students whose families may otherwise struggle to access available supplies.