If you missed the Beach Bags food drive at Landstown Commons this past weekend, there is another opportunity to contribute. Another Beach Bags food drive will be held this Thursday, Oct. 20, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Pembroke Mall.

Shelf-stable food items and healthy snacks collected are provided to VBCPS students who might otherwise go hungry on weekends or at times when schools are not in session. Each bag contains:

• Two individual-sized cereal boxes or oatmeal;
• Two eight oz. servings of shelf-stable milk;
• Two Individual-sized meals (ravioli, spaghetti & meatballs, macaroni and cheese, etc.);
• Two four-oz. fruit cups and/or 100 percent juice boxes; and
• Two snack items (granola bars, raisins, pretzels, etc.).

Tax-deductible donations are also accepted at the food drive or on a daily basis at the School Administration Building, 2512 George Mason Drive, Virginia Beach. All monetary donations are used entirely to purchase food for the program.

Since the program’s inception in 2009, more than 50,000 bags of food have been provided to our neediest students. According to program statistics, 200 students receive food each week through Beach Bags.

Beach Bags is funded entirely by donations through the Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Parent Connection, managed by the Office of Community Engagement. To see photos from the food drive held this past Saturday, see the school division’s Facebook page.