Detroit Public Schools Community District launched its food distribution program Wednesday, a huge task in Michigan's largest school system where about 86% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

The district prepared two meals, a breakfast and a lunch, for every district student, meaning almost 100,000 meals to go.

"I think it went pretty smooth," said district spokeswoman Chrystal Wilson. "At most schools, people parked their cars and walked into the building to pick up the lunch and grab a learning packet."

Breakfasts consisted of cereal, graham crackers, milk and two pieces of fruit. Lunches included a sub sandwich, two pieces of fruit and milk. The menu will change slightly from day to day but the district plans to make it available to all students throughout the shutdown, Wilson said.

The district counted on volunteer school employees who don't normally work in food service to make the launch successful.

"People asked you to do this, asked you to do that, but it was kind of a togetherness and like, 'let's get this done,' " said Jay Alexander, executive director of athletics for the district, who spent Wednesday at David L. MacKenzie Elementary-Middle School filling boxes for meals. "There's no animosity. Everybody's happy to do the job."

The district joins other districts around the state that launched their programs earlier this week. Research has long shown a correlation between eating well and learning well. The need to distribute food isn't limited to poor communities like Detroit.

On Tuesday, Birmingham schools distributed more than 900 meals and Bloomfield Hills schools distributed more than 500. Walled Lake Consolidated Schools structured its program so families could visit once on Mondays and pick up a week's worth of meals. On Monday, the district distributed more than 4,600 meals, spokeswoman Judy Evola said.

Troy Schools isn't being picky about who gets the meals.

"Students do not have to be present and parents/guardians can go to any location listed," the district said in a note to parents. "Children do not have to be Troy School District students."

Statewide more than 730,000 students qualify for free or reduced price lunches in school because of their family income level.

Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. On Twitter @jwisely