From the Peace and Social Concerns Committee and Denna Joy:

Peace and Social Concerns Committee would like collect supplies in March in support of the students at Armstrong High School. I have been part of the support staff there for a number of years. Armstrong is a Richmond Public School High School located in the city’s east end. It has a proud history. It was founded in the 1870s as the Richmond Colored Normal School and became the first public school in Richmond for African American students. The school was named for Union General Armstrong, a white commander of colored troops during the Civil War who founded Hampton Institute, a historically black college. Alumni speak with pride of the strong school spirit of Armstrong students.

Today, Armstrong High School is on its fourth location. It sits on the edge of Fairfield Court, on the border of Henrico County. The Armstrong zone includes students who come from all four subsidized housing communities in the east end. Many face the trauma of living daily in dangerous, high crime neighborhoods. They struggle with poverty, stresses at home and a community in need of more resources. As a result, many of our students are often chronically late and find remaining in school and graduating on time very difficult. Included in our population are students classified as homeless; they have no permanent residence. Many are doubled up with friends or relatives or living in motels. On paper, the number of reported homeless students is close to 45. However, staff feels that number is probably much higher. Particularly hard to serve are our over eighteen homeless students who are” couch surfing”- staying where ever they can. The resilience and persistence our students demonstrate is humbling. We have a food and clothes pantry designed to serve these students. They are often in need of food when they come into school in the morning or something to take home with them for the evening. While all RPS students receive free breakfast, many of our students are just not in the building at 7:30 when breakfast is served. So we are asking folks to contribute food items to the pantry. Additional supplies such as deodorant, laundry detergent and feminine hygiene products are usually in short supply.

Also in the building is a child care center for infants and toddlers of parents attending Armstrong. This support allows young parents to have a safe space for their children to be while they attend school. Parents are asked to bring supplies such as diapers, baby swipes and Vaseline to school. But like deodorant and feminine products, these items cannot be bought with food stamps.

PSC will be collecting:

Breakfast foods– Pop tarts, soft granola bars, packets of cold cereal
Hygiene products– male and female deodorant- both solid and spray, sanitary napkins
Baby products– diapers sizes 4, 5, 6, Vaseline, diaper swipes.
Laundry supplies– boxes containing liquid pods or packs for easy transport