PEARL RIVER, LA — The line of cars was ready well before the 9:00 start time. Within 30 minutes, the police and sheriff’s deputies went down the line spreading the word.
“There’s no more food,” they told each of the remaining drivers in line who were unable to get any of the 715 meals handed out at the Pearl River Community Center.
The Council on Aging Saint Tammany Parish, or COAST, has never before distributed meals like this, with cars lined up and tables covered in stacks of boxed meals. Each box contained five meals.
“We realize there’s 56,000 older adults here in Saint Tammany, and we can’t help everybody,” COAST Executive Director Julie Agan told WGNO. “But we feel real good about those we are able to help.”
The group is planning three more of the meal distributions, each one in a different part of Saint Tammany Parish.
- On Friday, April 17, the meals will be distributed at the COAST Activity Center on Highway 41 in Bush.
- On Monday, April 20, the meals will be distributed at the COAST Activity Center at 610 Cousins Street in Slidell.
- On Tuesday, April 21, the meals will be distributed at the COAST Activity Center at 19404 North 10th Street in Covington.
Distribution will begin at 9:00 each morning. Over all four days, COAST will distribute 600 boxes of meals.