January 21, 2021
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is grateful to have received a $50,000 grant from Truist Financial Corporation to continue and expand our Grab-and-Go meal service to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds help support unanticipated costs, such as providing meals to adults and entire families.
Since the spring of 2020, BCPS has distributed more than 5.3 million meals in support of the nutritional needs of kids in our community. The BCPS Food and Nutrition Services Department will utilize the funds to continue its free curbside meal distributions, providing breakfast and lunch for all children 18 years of age or younger, whether they’re engaged in face-to-face instruction or eLearning, and even if they don’t attend a District school.
“We are thankful for this generous grant from Truist through the Urban School Food Alliance,” said BCPS Superintendent Robert W. Runcie. “While we continue to distribute meals to all children in Broward County, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed an extra strain on our resources. These funds will help us with critical needs.”
The grant is part of the financial services company’s Truist Cares initiative, a cooperative effort between Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Foundation, Inc., and Truist Charitable Fund, to provide communities, organizations and individuals disaster relief and assistance during the COVID-19 crisis and comes as part of a $400,000 award granted to the Urban School Food Alliance. The funds from Truist will help eight large, urban school districts, including BCPS, expand emergency feeding efforts and continue to meet the needs of children and families.
“Rates of food insecurity have risen dramatically during the pandemic. School nutrition programs have stepped up to ensure children and families don’t go hungry, but they can’t do it alone. Community partners are vital to sustaining the emergency feeding efforts,” says Dr. Katie Wilson, executive director of Urban School Food Alliance. “Truist’s heart for our mission and significant investment in eight Urban School Food Alliance member districts is so greatly appreciated and demonstrates the type of public/private partnerships that are needed to continue this important work.”
“The pandemic has affected our communities, including school children who rely on free or reduced-priced meals,” said Tony Coley, South Florida regional president at Truist. “As part of our response to COVID-19 via our Truist Cares initiative, our support for the Urban School Food Alliance member districts throughout our footprint will help ensure our children’s nutritional needs are met so they may succeed in either the physical or virtual classroom.”
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ABOUT BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
“Committed to educating all students to reach their highest potential.”
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth-largest school district in the nation and the second largest in the state of Florida. The District is Florida’s first fully accredited school system since 1962 and has nearly 261,000 pre-K-12th grade students and approximately 110,000 adult students in 241 schools, centers, and technical colleges, and 92 charter schools. BCPS serves a diverse student population, representing 170 different countries and 147 different languages. To connect with BCPS, visit browardschools.com, follow on Twitter @browardschools and Facebook at facebook.com/browardschools, and download the free BCPS mobile app.