Richmond Public Schools responded to the city’s ongoing water outage by providing meals to families in need on Thursday and Friday. The school division partnered with Richmond Ed Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports local schools, to distribute more than 200 meals across six schools for families impacted by the crisis.  

On Thursday, RPS served pepperoni and cheese pizzas from Little Caesars while local food trucks provided meals on Friday. Families picked up grab-and-go lunches, Kool-Aid and as many water bottles as needed. Participating schools included Brown Middle School, Cardinal Elementary School, Carver Elementary School, Henderson Middle School, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and Richmond High School for the Arts.  

“It’s a good day to volunteer,” said Rose Gordon, a counselor for Mary Mumford Elementary School and one of the volunteers. “It’s exciting to be back with the community, back out here, talking amongst our students and our parents.”  

The City of Richmond’s water treatment plant experienced an electrical outage caused by heavy snow last Sunday. As a result, the city and the Virginia Department of Health issued a citywide boil water advisory, which remains in effect.  

Superintendent Jason Kamras said RPS is testing the water systems at each school to ensure the water is safe to drink.  

“We don’t want kids in school with water that they can’t drink, and we can’t open our kitchens with water that’s not healthy to use,” said Kamras, who helped distribute lunches at Carver Elementary. “I hate closing, but we’ve got to put safety first.”  

Meanwhile, resident Kyrie Harris, along with his 5-year-old daughter Nori, who attends Carver Elementary, said they appreciated the complimentary meal from the school division as it helped them conserve water by reducing the need for washing dishes.  

“With the water being out for the last few days, we try to cook as much as we can,” Harris said.  

Harris added that while his kids are happy about the unexpected days off from school, he is enjoying the extra time with them.  

“I’m appreciating getting to spend more time with my children,” he said.