All Florida students in counties under the Irma federal disaster declaration will be eligible for free school meals for the next month, state officials said.

  • Students in counties under disaster declaration to get free meals
  • Disaster declaration includes all Tampa Bay-area, Orlando-area counties
  • 48 counties, 3,000 schools statewide fall under declaration
  • FULL COVERAGE: Irma: After the Storm

As many as 2.5 million children in 3,000 schools statewide may benefit from the free meals, including students in every Central Florida and Tampa Bay area county.

The free student meals from the National School Lunch Program will be available from now until Oct. 20.

The announcement was made Monday by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who made the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Parents or guardians can contact the department at 1-800-504-6609 or email InfoFNW@FreshFromFlorida.com for more information.