Meals Matter
(Image courtesy of RCC/Legacy Academy)
Meals matter. We all know that.
We also know that sometimes a meal can make a real difference. Such is the case for local non-profit Richmond Cycling Corps’ Legacy Academy.
RCC’s purpose is to change the lives of youth who live in our city's public housing projects. Since the beginning, their approach has been creative and unconventional.
In 2010, they started the nation’s first inner city cycling team as a platform to create connections, build relationships, and help students finish high school. You can learn more about RCC and its programs here: RCC. (And if you want an inside view of what children face in public housing, spend some time reading the Phaup Street Journal.)
Recognizing that some members of the cycling team were not thriving in public school, in 2017 RCC created Legacy Academy to serve those most at risk. This home school academy, founded on a mentor-based style of education, ensures that its 12 students experience close interaction with their teachers. The Academy, combined with cycling as the official school sport, provides students and teachers tools for change. Both are in the trenches doing very difficult work: the teachers providing hope, support and skills and the students working hard to create new paths for themselves.
I’d like to invite City Church families to consider a simple volunteer opportunity with Legacy Academy: to help meet the great and ongoing need for lunches on school days. It’s an easy way to serve and support. Just make a lunch and drop if off at their location in Church Hill. You can take lunch once or provide it on regular basis. For more details or to sign up, go to Take Them a Meal.
Meals make a big difference at the Academy. Often lunch is the students’ best meal of the day; sometimes it’s their only meal. So even if you’re not able to provide lunch at this time, spread the word to friends who might connect with this opportunity. Together, we could cover their Take Them a Meal slots for the rest of the year.
Thank you, friends.