Critical hunger relief efforts will be further expanded at Virginia’s Community Colleges to assist more students in need thanks to a renewed gift of $150,000 from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE).
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and the VFCCE identified food insecurity among Virginia’s community college students as a priority issue in late 2018. This partnership led to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation’s initial grant investment to the VFCCE in 2019 resulting in the establishment or expansion of vital emergency food programs at rural college campuses. As result, nearly 90,000 students enrolled at community colleges throughout the state have access to needed food and resources, including students at the three community colleges that introduced new programs because of the grant.
“Virginia communities have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 and the work our nonprofit partners are doing is vital as communities look ahead to their recovery,” said Jennie Reynolds, president, Anthem Virginia’s Medicaid Plan. “Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to improving lives and communities by helping meet the needs of our most vulnerable populations and support organizations who continue their work on the frontlines addressing areas that were severely impacted by the pandemic. Food insecurity continues to affect Virginia and is associated with some of the most serious and costly chronic health problems. It remains important that we continue to identify ways to address this serious issue in our communities where help is needed and can be readily accessed.”
Support for these programs comes at a critical time as food insecurity levels are on the rise nationwide. According to a recent report from Feeding America, about 3.3 million American households were identified as food-insecure in 2019. Dramatic coronavirus-related job losses have pushed that number to 9.9 million families in jeopardy, with a projected spike to 17.1 million by the end of the 2020 calendar year as unemployment benefits expire. Families with children and those in rural areas with fewer available jobs are disproportionately at risk.
These food programs have found creative ways to continue to serve students during pandemic-related campus closures, including drive-through or curbside assistance and access to food pantries by appointment, and have served as an important connection point for the community.
The success of the existing partnership, its impact on the health and security of students across the Commonwealth, and the growing need for additional emergency support prompted a renewed investment from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation in the VFCCE.
“Continued partnership with the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation allows us to help students who are currently struggling with the economic effects of coronavirus,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “Anthem’s generous support also will enable new, targeted initiatives designed to help students succeed in their training programs and reach their career goals.”
As part of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation’s ongoing efforts to target specific, preventable health concerns, the renewed partnership with the VFCCE will also help to fund an in-depth survey of needs among students at Virginia’s Community Colleges. HopeLab, a social innovation lab focused on designing science-based technologies to improve the health and well-being of teens and young adults, will conduct the survey. This study will serve as a resource for creating future initiatives to address specific challenges, helping to boost student achievement and aid their attainment of valuable career-building credentials.
Thanks to this investment from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, food emergency programs will further expand at 14 of Virginia’s Community Colleges as soon as the Fall 2020 semester. All 23 community colleges will have an opportunity to access funding, but colleges immediately impacted include:
Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Anthem’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that make up its Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets: maternal health, diabetes prevention, cancer prevention, heart health and healthy, active lifestyles, behavioral health efforts and programs that benefit people with disabilities. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s year-round Dollars for Dollars program that provides a 100 percent match of associates’ donations, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) is the supporting arm of Virginia’s 23 community colleges. The VFCCE works to broaden educational access, support student success, and provide innovative solutions to workforce needs. Our mission is “Building student success and the Commonwealth’s future by supporting Virginia’s Community Colleges”. To ensure access to high quality, affordable education, the VFCCE provides statewide leadership in raising funds for community college education, supplementing and supporting the activities of the 23 individual colleges, and securing support for major system-wide initiatives that could not be undertaken by any single college. For more information, please visit https://vfcce.org/.
About Virginia’s Community Colleges (VCCS): Since 1966, Virginia’s Community Colleges have given everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills so lives and communities are strengthened. By making higher education and workforce training available in every part of Virginia, we elevate all of Virginia. Together, Virginia’s Community Colleges serve more than 270,000 students each year. For more information, please visit https://www.vccs.edu/.
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