New Prince William County School Food Pantries Celebrated With Ribbon Cutting

WOODBRIDGE, VA — A new pilot program launching food pantries at 10 Prince William County public schools aims to feed food insecure students and their families.

A ribbon cutting for the food pantry program was held last Thursday at Hylton High School in Woodbridge. Along with Hylton High School, food panty locations include Unity Reed High School, Lake Ridge Middle School, Enterprise Elementary School, Occoquan Elementary School, Sudley Elementary School, Reagan Middle School, Minnieville Elementary School, Parkside Middle School, and Mullen Elementary School.

The food pantry program officially kicked off in September as a partnership with the Prince William County Community Foundation, the C.H.O.W. Wagon, and the Capital Area Food Bank.

"For us in Prince William County, this is critically important because we cannot deliver on the promise of education if students are not prepared physically, emotionally, socially and mentally to be educated," said Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent LaTanya McDade. "We just have to make sure that they have access, and this is an opportunity to do that."

"Having a food pantry in our school is so amazing, because it allows us really to better serve our students and families that are in need," added Cassandra Crawford, principal at Hylton High School.

The food pantries are managed by school administrators and parent liaisons. They are stocked monthly with non-perishable food items tailed to the needs of each school community. According to PWCS, the goal of the program is to address short-term food insecurity, reduce access barriers, connect families with long-term resources and provide consistency in food support.

The Capital Area Food Bank's 2025 report showing Prince William County has a 43 percent food insecurity rate, up from 36 percent last year. The county had the second-highest food insecurity rate of the localities in the Capital Area Food Bank's coverage area, second to Prince George's County, Maryland.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.