When a school division and its community have a simple way to work together, meaningful support can build quickly.
In just five months, the partnership between All for Lunch and Virginia Beach City Public Schools has raised more than $15,000 to help address school lunch debt and support students and families. The milestone reflects a community willing to step forward and a school division committed to making student nutrition a shared priority.
But this partnership is about more than a fundraising total. It is also about making it easier for people who want to help to turn that generosity into support for local students.
Making Community Support Easier
Schools know the needs of their students and families. Community members often want to help, but they may not know where to start or how to direct a contribution toward school meal needs.
All for Lunch works with school partners to help bridge that gap. For Virginia Beach City Public Schools, that means a divisionwide way to receive donations without the division having to build and manage a separate fundraising system.
Chef Rachel Amato, Director of the Office of Food Services for Virginia Beach City Public Schools, describes what that support has meant to the division:
“All for Lunch opened up a lifeline for our community to support the needs of our students. They have helped us with a comprehensive solution to accept donations at a division level at no cost to us or to the donors. As we see an increase in food insecurity across the nation and in Virginia, All for Lunch supports our division’s focus on student nutrition and wellness while relieving financial stress on our families.”
— Chef Rachel Amato, MS
Director, Office of Food Services
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Five Months of Community Generosity
More than $15,000 raised in five months is a meaningful early milestone. Every contribution represents someone in the community choosing to help reduce the burden of unpaid school meal balances.
For families facing financial pressure, lunch debt can become one more concern in an already demanding season. For school nutrition teams, community support creates another way to respond to those needs while continuing their everyday work of feeding students.
The partnership makes room for both: a school division focused on student nutrition and wellness, and a community with a direct way to participate.
A Shared Commitment to Students
At All for Lunch, we believe students should have access to lunch at school, regardless of their financial situation at home. That belief is at the heart of our work with Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
We are grateful to Chef Rachel Amato and the entire Office of Food Services team for the care they bring to students and families, and to the Virginia Beach community for the generosity that has made this early progress possible.
The partnership continues to give local supporters a way to help take the burden of lunch debt off students’ plates.
You can support Virginia Beach City Public Schools HERE.
