TOWSON, MD—Baltimore County Public Schools has received a donation of $26,413 to help fight food insecurity among students. The money was raised during Giant Food’s Nourishing Our Youth food initiative.

“We deeply appreciate this generous donation from Giant Food and its customers,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “Partners such as Giant Food demonstrate enduring community support for our school system and provide resources to enrich our impact on students and communities.”

BCPS plans to use the donation to increase oven capacity in its elementary schools.

“The quality of the food we serve is key to supporting a positive learning environment,” said BCPS Food and Nutrition Services Director Jaime Hetzler. “The number of total meals we serve has increased 33 percent since 2012. With the support of grants, we are increasing the oven capacity in elementary schools. When we have the capacity to produce more food onsite, our ability to control the quality of the food in greatly improved and, as a result, we feed more students.”

From June 17 to August 11, Giant Food Stores invited customers to round up their grocery purchases at the register and join in the support of local public school districts’ food and meal programs. With the help of its customers, Giant Food raised more than $765,900 to address the issue of childhood hunger throughout the communities it serves across four states.

“We all know that kids need nutritious meals to grow, learn, and thrive. But too many children across our region struggle to receive a decent meal at lunch when attending school,” said Felis Andrade, director of external communications & community relations at Giant Food. “Through Giant’s Nourishing Our Youth program, we can give much-needed funds to school districts within our region to support their meal programs. We are incredibly grateful to our outstanding customers for their philanthropic support and thrilled to be able to donate these funds to our local school districts.”

Photo: Terri Smith, BPCS Manager of Operations, Food and Nutrition Services, (second from right) receiving check from Giant food executives