Celebrating Richmond’s Hunger-Free Schools

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

Last week, VPLC was honored to be a part of an event to celebrate hunger-free schools in Richmond.  Through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), Richmond Public Schools (RPS) became one of the first school systems in Virginia to implement CEP districtwide. As a result, RPS provides breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge this school year.

The “Celebrate Hunger-Free Schools” event took place at Miles Jones Elementary.  Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe and Congressman Bobby Scott both spoke, as did several federal, state and local representatives.  A Miles Jones Elementary teacher spoke about the difference he sees in his students now that they are receiving breakfast and lunch at no charge.

“This program has removed the barriers between students and nutritious foods,” said William Oliver, a first grade teacher at the school.

CEP supports hunger-free schools and strengthens the entire community by helping to ensure that low-income children have access to healthy meals at school. CEP also improves efficiency by eliminating the administrative process of managing free and reduced lunch applications.

There are 86 individual school sites in Virginia that participate in CEP.  This means that 43,000 students across the Commonwealth receive breakfast and lunch at no charge.  We hope that this number continues to increase in the coming years.

Here’s to Richmond’s hunger-free schools!

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