Last Updated on March 17, 2020
Nurse Amy Johnston has coordinated alongside a network of registered nurses in Virginia, and with the help of the Virginia school district, a fundraiser was started in order to ensure Virginia’s students would still be fed a healthy lunch during the COVID-19 closure period. This fundraiser is for children who wouldn’t be able to have lunch without their school meal programs.
“While a few larger districts are establishing meal pick up times during this 2+ week closure, many throughout the state have yet to do so and may not be able to sustain that effort,” says Johnson.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam formally made the announcement that there will be full school closures in the state for a minimum of two weeks. The campaign designated to raise funds for students was organized by Johnson, and promptly put up on Go Fund Me.
Johnson along with her network of nurses will be using their funding to provide outreach to families with school children who rely on the lunch programs in order to have a full days worth of meals. The team of nurses will be delivering these meals to the homes of these families during the two week long duration of full school closure.
According to the Go Fund Me fundraising page, if there are any leftover funds will go towards delinquent school lunch accounts once school starts up again. This will help a great number of families who will be in need of such assistance when their kids are back in class come March or April.
In only 18 hours, the fundraising page organized by Johnson has seen 27 donors with almost $1,500 in total donations.
“Wow! Woke up this morning to over $1000 raised overnight! Thank each and every one of you for contributing. I also love seeing others doing the same in their own communities across the country,” posted in a Facebook update from Johnson today. “My team of nurses across the state is ready to go Monday. Let’s see how much we can collect through tomorrow evening so we can hit the ground running on the first day of the statewide school closure.”
As of now, the fundraiser has accumulated 32 donors that have collectively raised $1,595.
