Local Students Unite for Annual School Food Drive to Support Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

VERONA VA: (ROCKTOWN NOW) – The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, in collaboration with 31 local schools and organizations, will kick off the annual School Food Drive on Monday, March 3. This year, the drive will not only cover the greater Charlottesville area but will also extend into the Shenandoah Valley for the first time. Running from March 3 to March 21, the drive aims to collect food donations to support the Food Bank and its pantry partners. Additionally, this year’s event will feature a fundraising component.

The drive comes at a crucial time, as food donations typically decline during this period. The collected food will help support local families in need. The Food Bank, along with its 217 area partners—including soup kitchens, shelters, nonprofits, and food pantries—serves over 68,000 individuals and families facing hunger each month.

Leading this year’s efforts are local students Lily Stendig from Albemarle High School and Sofia Smith from Tandem Friends School. They hope to build on the success of last year’s drive, which provided more than 5,000 meals.

“The School Food Drive shows what the community can do when it comes together,” said Stendig. “Young people throughout the area will demonstrate a real impact from our collective efforts.”

Smith added, “We are so proud to be part of the solution to food insecurity in our area. This food drive shows how students across the region can unite to make things better now and for tomorrow.”

Participating schools for the 2025 drive include:

– Agnor Elementary School
– Albemarle High School
– Albemarle Montessori
– Bessie Weller Elementary
– Brownsville Elementary School
– Buffalo Gap High School
– Buffalo Gap Middle School
– Charlottesville Waldorf School
– Johnson Elementary School
– Journey Middle School
– Lacey Spring Elementary School
– Monticello High School
– Murray Elementary School
– Red Hill Elementary School
– Renaissance School
– Staunton High School
– Churchville Elementary School
– Covenant School (Lower School)
– Covenant School (Upper School)
– Crozet Elementary School
– Grace Christian School
– Greenbrier Elementary School
– Henley Middle School
– J. Frank Hillyard Middle School
– Staunton Montessori School
– Stone Robinson Elementary School
– Stony Point Elementary School
– Stuarts Draft Middle School
– Tandem School
– Trailblazer Elementary School
– William Perry Elementary School

“Costs of food, housing, and childcare continue to soar, and across our area, we are seeing more need—a lot more—so this drive could not come at a better time,” said Livia Marrs, volunteer and food drive manager at the Food Bank. “It’s inspiring to see young people stepping up to support the Food Bank. This expanded drive will help us collect a significant amount of food that will go directly back into the community.”

Since the annual School Food Drive began in 2011, participating schools and organizations have collected more than 101,000 pounds of food, equivalent to 83,925 meals, for neighbors living with hunger.

Each participating school or organization will have large orange Food Bank barrels or other collection receptacles for the community to place non-perishable food items in. To learn more about how to support the 2025 School Food Drive, please visit Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s website.