Did you know that there are children right here in Virginia Beach who do not have enough to eat? It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. This is especially the case during weekends and school vacations when children cannot take advantage of available school breakfasts and lunches. In addition, the tough economic times we face as a country have created a situation where some families must choose between keeping their home and buying food for their family. Being deprived of food on a regular basis is called “food insecurity.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as households that are uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet basic needs of all their members because of insufficient money or other resources.” When the guardian of a child has to choose between food and other necessities, e.g., having electricity shut off because they don’t have enough money, it is an indicator of food insecurity. It is impossible to predict the impact that being deprived of food has on a child’s development, but parents and teachers agree that even short-term hunger has an immediate impact on student alertness, behavior and academic achievement.

Fortunately, Virginia Beach City Public Schools Parent Connection, Department of School Social Work Services, and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia are partnering to address this critical need through the Beach Bags program. Beach Bags provides needy students with necessary food items over the weekend. Currently the program serves approximately two hundred students from five elementary schools including the Tri-Campus, Birdneck, and Cooke. Food is packed by volunteers and distributed to participating schools. The Beach Bags are actually packed in brown paper (or plastic) bags and placed in student backpacks at the end of the day (so they are not embarrassed or stigmatized for having been selected).

Current funding, however, only allows for distributions to take place every other weekend. We would like very much to expand the program by providing food to identified students every week, adding to the number of students served, and expanding to additional schools.

Schools and the community can help in the following ways. Of course, the Foodbank will take tax deductible donations
at www.foodbankonline.org. Schools, PTA’s, parents, and community members can also “pack a Beach Bag” by assembling the ten items in the attached list in a paper or plastic (unsealed) bag. Beach Bags can be delivered to School Administration, to the Foodbank, or to participating schools. Parent Connection will, in conjunction with the Foodbank, make arrangements for pickup and distribution.

Each Beach Bag Contains:

2 - individual cereal boxes

• Small, individual sized boxes or bowls

2 – 8 oz shelf stable milk

• Individual cartons (juice box sized)

2 – shelf-stable main course items

• Ravioli, spaghetti &meatballs, beef stew, chicken & dumplings, tuna/chunk chicken, tuna helper, macaroni & cheese, chunky soups, peanut butter & crackers

2 – 4 oz or larger fruit cups and/or 100% juice boxes

2 – snack items

Questions - please call Melissa McQuarrie, VBCPS Director of Community Relations at 757.263.1936 or email at melissa.mcquarrie@vbschools.com