RICHMOND, Va. — For some Central Virginia students, the end of the school year means the end of access to two guaranteed free meals a day.
"We still have one in six children in this area and FeedMore service area where children need food, they don't know where their next meal's coming from," said Ruth Ann Caplice with FeedMore.
In an effort to supplement that need during the summer, FeedMore is offering free breakfast and lunch to anyone in the area under the age of 18.
"They don't have to pay, they don't have to register, they don't even have to give their names if they don't want to," Caplice said.
FeedMore's Summer Food Service Program officially started Monday, June 9.
"You do need food to thrive and grow, and we don't want that pattern to stop during the summer," Caplice said.
From tacos to pasta, Caplice says food is provided on a first come, first serve basis to more than 31 sites across Richmond and the Tri Cities.
"The menu is set a month ahead of time. They know exactly what they're going to prepare and how they prepare," Caplice said.
As a former teacher, Caplice says she's seen the difficulties some parents face and how helpful programs like this can be.
"Parents and it can be any, any kind of socioeconomic you run into problems. So a lot of times it's a balance between feeding my children getting gas in the car," Caplice said. "Knowing that you can go somewhere that will help you with alleviating some of that makes a big difference."
With the service running through the summer, she says the program is always in need of help from the community.
"We depend on 200 volunteers a day for all of the FeedMore programs. So volunteers are always needed, and then we need drivers to help deliver the breakfasts on Thursdays," Caplice said.
The program runs until Aug. 15. Click here to find the full list of sites, dates and times.
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