Thanks to the Albany Fund for Education (AFE) and a host of community supporters, Edmund J. O’Neal School of Excellence has food pantry.
Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter joined O’Neal Principal Rachel Stead, AFE Executive Director Mari Shopsis and several community partners on Wednesday to cut the ribbon on the pantry.
The school is home to two programs: Albany International Center, which serves refugee and immigrant students from kindergarten-grade 12, and the Dual Language Program, a bilingual Spanish-English immersion program for students from prekindergarten through grade 5.
In addition to the food pantry at O’Neal, AFE is supporting three more school-based food pantries: one at North Albany Middle School, one at Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School, and one that will open this fall at William S. Hackett Middle School.
Hochreiter thanked AFE and community partners that assisted with the food bank: the Albany County Legislature, Regeneron and the Seymour Fox Foundation.
He also acknowledged the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York for its ongoing assistance in establishing these new food pantries, and in continuing to support food pantries already in operation at Albany High School, Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy, Sheridan Preparatory Academy and Tony Clement Center for Education.
“Projects like these are what sustain us and, to some degree, define us. Thank you to everyone for making these important projects happen for our students and families,” Hochreiter said.
