CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CvilleRightNow) – The 13th annual School Food Drive benefitting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is underway through March 22. Albemarle High School student Lily Stendig, co-coordinating the effort for the schools along with Emily Warren and Tandem Friends School’s Sofia Smith, says they want to build on the success of last year’s drive which brought in 10,000 pounds of food. Livia Marrs with the Food Bank says over the years, the annual School Food Drive has collected more than 95,000 pounds of food, or the equivalent of just under 80,000 meals for our neighbors.

20 schools are participating and Marrs says they’re seeing a lot more need with rising food costs, and Stendig says this drive comes at a great time of year since donations are often down following the holidays.

Participating schools for the 2024 drive include:

• Agnor Hurt Elementary School
• Albemarle High School
• Baker Butler Elementary School
• Brownsville Elementary School
• Crozet Elementary School
• Greenbrier Elementary School
• Greer Elementary School
• Henley Middle School
• Monticello High School
• Murray Elementary School
• Peabody School
• Renaissance School
• Scottsville Elementary School
• Staunton Montessori School
• Stone Robinson Elementary School
• Stony Point Elementary School
• Tandem Friends School
• The Covenant School: Upper School
• The International School of Charlottesville
• Waldorf School

Large orange Food Bank collection barrels are located throughout each of the participating schools. To learn more about how to support the 2024 School Food Drive, go to: https://www.brafb.org/event/school-food-drive/.