Channel One partners with RPS to address food insecurity among students

Channel One Regional Food Bank and Rochester Public Schools are introducing a new approach toward combating childhood hunger.

Beginning this school year, the school district will work with Channel One to identify schools and student populations that have the highest need, and then connect them with community food resources.

In addition, Channel One will be offering daily deliveries to families who lack adequate transportation. The delivery service will replace the BackPack program by “removing the burden from children having to carry home food for themselves,” Channel One said in the announcement.

“We know that the BackPack program is beloved by the community and was an innovative program when it started over 10 years ago,” explained Virginia Merritt, Executive Director at Channel One, “However, we’ve learned a lot of lessons about the ongoing need for food in our community because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Channel One’s community engagement efforts through our co-design project, and this new wave of need driven by inflation. When a student does not have enough food to eat, there are usually others in the household who are also in need.”

To determine the student populations in the greatest need, Channel One said it would look at the percentage of kids on free lunch at a school, the community resources that are already in close geographical proximity to that school, and heat maps showing concentrations of poverty in the city.

In addition to holding “Mobile Market” events in these neighborhoods, Channel One also plans to train RPS social workers and other support staff on how to refer students to food resources.

Channel One has reported seeing a nearly 40 percent increase in shopping visits at its food shelf since January — a historic rise in demand that it attributes to the high costs of gas and groceries.

“Food is a basic need. We can’t expect our students to do their best and participate well in their education when they are lacking this basic need, or when they are worried about family members who don’t have access to food,” said RPS Superintendent Kent Pekel. “This partnership between Rochester Public Schools and Channel One gives the opportunity to not only meet the needs of the students, but also their families.”

Cover photo by William Forsman / Med City Beat