501 (3) (c)

Lunchbox 276 is a 501 (3) (c) non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating childhood hunger in Wise County, Virginia. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

 

 

 

 

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide adequate nutrition to food insecure children aged 3-18 within the 276 area code.

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Governance

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Mary Maranda Daniels, President and Founder

Mary Beth Masters, Secretary

Cassie Dotson, Treasurer

Chadwick Dotson, Director

 

A brief history

The Wise Primary School (WPS) Lunchbox Project, which is now called Lunchbox276, was started by a local church in 2008 and was solely dependent on small donations from other churches, businesses, and individuals. The inconsistent stream of funds made it impossible to keep the program active. When funds ran out, the cafeteria staff had to turn students away. ​

 

In early 2013, staff and parents at WPS took an active part in funding the project. One parent started a crowdsourcing account. Another Wise Primary parent organized a bike/5k event and raised over $15,000.00 for the Lunchbox276 program.

 

Todd’s Studio and Geneses selected our program for their 2014 Cut-a-Thon, raising $23,430.00. The Wise Primary School Lunchbox Project grew with the help of the Cut-a-Thon to feed over 4,000 students in every primary and middle school in the Wise County Public School Division and also in our neighbouring Norton City School Division. For the first time, schools had money in a lunch account for their neediest students. Others started backpack programs to feed students over the weekend or breaks.  

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In order to keep this momentum going, we rely on contributions from individuals and organizations.