Thanks to the generosity of Fauquier FISH, A Little Heart, and Saint James’ Episcopal Church and School, every family who comes to Grab-and-Go Meal sites will leave with food this summer—even if the site runs out of the meals they have planned. Working together, these organizations, along with help from SPARC Research and the Highland School community, assembled more than 1,000 “snow day kits” to address the needs of Fauquier County children who may be food insecure.
Snow day kits—used during the school year when there is a possibility of a snow day—are typically sent home with children who may not have enough to eat. Each snow day kit is a day’s worth of food and includes a breakfast item, a lunch item, fruit, a snack and a dinner item all in a resealable storage bag.
While snow is not on the horizon for many months, the current COVID19 pandemic has created an urgent need to provide nutritious meals for families. The Grab-and-Go-Meal program provides meals to families in need; however, numbers can vary drastically from week to week, complicating the planning. The availability of snow day kits guarantees that no one leaves a distribution site without food for their children. Families can get multiple kits for their children, as necessary.
As the supply of snow day kits provided by Fauquier FISH began to run low, FCPS reached out to additional community partners for assistance. When the call went out for help, Stacey Irvin, Head of St. James’ Episcopal School, sprang into action. According to Mrs. Irvin, “When we heard about the needs of the Grab-and-Go Meal program during the pandemic, we knew we had to help.”
As soon as the Church and School sent emails and posted the service project on social media, the snow day kits started coming in. Mrs. Irvin explained, “We placed two empty bins at the front of the building for contactless donating, and they filled up so fast that we had to empty them into the school lobby a few times every day. The lobby of the School was overflowing with snow kits! We were worried that some items might be hard to find during the pandemic, but the Saint James’ community made it happen. It was a very concrete way to help put food on someone’s table, and we were so happy with the outpouring of support.”
For information about the days, times and locations of the food distribution sites, call 540-422-7110.
In collaboration with Sheehy Ford, Fauquier County Public Schools will be sponsoring a food drive on July 26. For event details, please contact Kristen McAuliffe at kmcauliffe@fcps1.org or 540-422-7110. Those interested in making a monetary donation can contact Fauquier FISH.
View the original article from Fauquier County Public Schools here.