RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Healthy School Meals for All coalition held a rally Monday morning, advocating for every Virginia public school child to have access to free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family's income.
The coalition explained this would also help take a burden off cafeteria staff.
According to the group, one in seven children in Virginia experience hunger and approximately 250,000 children live in food-insecure households.
Currently, 67 percent of Virginia schools serve free meals to all students, and a survey conducted by Healthy School Meals for All shows 78 percent of Virginians say it’s harder to afford groceries now than it was a year ago.
One mom who attended the rally explained how changes in her life made it challenging to provide lunch for her son, and she thinks many other families would benefit from not having to stress about feeding their kids.
“I myself am closing out a divorce process, and financially, the adjustment was devastating," explained mom and advocate Nikieta Lambert. "If I was able to benefit from these low-cost meals, it would have alleviated a lot of stress for me and allowed me to be more present emotionally for my son during the harder parts of the transition.”
Both bills that would have provided free lunch for all public school students did not make it out of their respective House and Senate appropriations committees this year, but organizers are hopeful for the 2025 legislative session.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky| Facebook| Instagram| X| Threads| TikTok| YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
