News

Blue Ridge Area Food Bank combats food insecurity for students in summer months

Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Photo: Unsplash/Blue Ridge Area Food Bank


CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- Many families rely on school meals to provide nourishment to their children. But what happens when the school year ends?

According to data from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, one in seven children face food insecurity in Virginia. 

That is why the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is operating the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program in our area. BRAFB will be preparing fruit, vegetables, snacks, and dishes rich in protein for breakfast and lunch free of charge to several programs across the region, like churches, summer school programs, and recreation programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs.   

Across 25 counties, the Food Bank projects it will be serving 550 kids throughout the duration of the program.  Many of the counties in which food insecurity is the most pervasive come from rural counties in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area. 

Some distribution sites may require registration in a particular program being run at the site, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs. 

Others are rural non-congregate meal sites that do not require kids to be involved in a program, providing five breakfasts and five suppers to-go from May 26 through early August, 2026. 

Latest Stories

1 day ago in Local Sports, Sports, UVA, UVA, UVA Sports

UVA football to play Vanderbilt in 2028, 2031

Vanderbilt will be the first SEC team to play in Scott Stadium since 2002.

2 days ago in Sports

MLB owners propose banning high school signings, adding an international draft

Baseball owners proposed banning high school players from signing with major league teams, raising the age for international amateurs and slashing the money spent on signing bonuses in negotiations Thursday for a new collective bargaining agreement.

2 days ago in Entertainment

Former child actor Daveigh Chase, ‘The Ring’ villain and Lilo voice, dies at 35

Former child actor Daveigh Chase, known for her youthful voice in Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" and her villainous performance in the thriller "The Ring," has died. She was 35.