When her weekly food pantry at Dominion Trail Elementary in Ashburn, Virginia, opened on Monday, Jane Kennedy helped 18 families with over 50 children between them to ensure they had enough to eat.
Now in her third school year in that role, she’s watched many of the moms go through pregnancy and have their babies. She gets to ask whether they need any help, or whether there’s some kind of information they might need.
“Just bringing a little bit of joy and giving access to programs to children who might not otherwise be able to access them. It may seem small, but it means a lot,” Kennedy said of the purpose of her work.
The food pantry opens once a week, and ensures families have pantry staples. Kennedy also sends home meal bags once a week on Fridays.
Since the 1990s, Loudoun County Public Schools has relied on family liaisons to make sure students have their basic needs met and families are able to build trusted relationships with their kids’ teachers. Title I schools, which have at least 40% of the population eligible for free meals, have a full-time liaison, and other schools have one part time.
At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, the school division will spotlight their efforts.
As of December, liaisons have supported over 4,100 families and over 5,200 students across the county, according to school board documents.
“We can forget that in our neighborhoods, in our own schools, there are children in our children’s classrooms who are not able to enjoy the after-school programs or the summer camps or the activities that some of our kids are able to,” Kennedy said. “Kids notice that, and they feel that, and so by providing this extra little help, being able to give that, it helps to level the playing field.”
When the role was first introduced, Kennedy said the intention was to hire a parent who has kids in the same school they’d be working in. It’s since evolved, with the goal of empowering students “by making sure they have what they need, so that they can focus 100% on school.”
In addition to the food pantry, Kennedy said the school hosts an annual giveaway for “shoes, coats and Halloween costumes.” She also organizes a holiday gift drive for the neediest kids, and last year, 133 gifts were distributed. All of those gifts were sourced from within the school community, she said. They give out Thanksgiving meals, too.
“We need to make sure they’re well-fed, they’re well-clothed, that they’ve got what they need so that they can be happy and well here at school,” Kennedy said.
Part of the role, Kennedy said, is connecting families with resources to help them, whether she offers them herself or refers parents to other community groups. She invites parents to volunteer for a whole school day, so they can spend time in their child’s classroom and go to special events. Every spring, there are a couple days where families can have breakfast with their kids.
For schools in the D.C. region that may not have a liaison, Kennedy said it’s likely they would “spread out the difference activities to different people who hopefully would be able to do it.”
“We are very fortunate, in that we are able to provide adequate food and clothing and housing to our children,” Kennedy said. “But it really struck me how many kids with a similar background to my children’s don’t.”
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