With a new grant boosting its reach, the Fly Beyond initiative will now serve an additional five schools, expanding its impact on student nutrition and food security.
The Fly Beyond program, a notable initiative designed to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Central Florida schools, is set to expand significantly following a substantial grant. Initially launched with a $1 million grant from Wawa in 2023, the program has already made a considerable impact, providing fresh produce to over 50,000 children and families last school year through a farmers-market-style setup.
Thanks to a recent $475,000 grant from the Wawa Foundation, the Fly Beyond program will now extend its reach to five additional schools, bringing the total number of participating schools to 40 in the region. Elizabeth Simeone, President of the Wawa Foundation, emphasized the importance of this initiative in complementing the efforts of local schools in combating hunger. “Schools do such a phenomenal job,” Simeone stated. “But really engaging volunteers, school partnership programs, it helps remove the stigma as well, which is why the Fly Beyond was really put in place. It’s to provide additional access to more children for nutritious foods.”
The expansion of the Fly Beyond program addresses a pressing need in Central Florida, where approximately one in six children faces food insecurity. Briana Rebello, who manages the program at Second Harvest, highlighted its broad impact: “Each school has the potential to reach 500 to 2,000 students. We make the fresh markets available to the entire student population.”
This expansion comes at a critical time, as the region continues to grapple with heightened food insecurity due to factors like lingering COVID-19 impacts and rising inflation. Second Harvest, the organization behind the Fly Beyond program, has noted a surge in summer hunger, further underlining the program’s importance.
With a robust network of 48,511 volunteers last year, Second Harvest has been instrumental in supporting the food bank’s efforts to meet growing needs. The Fly Beyond program’s success and its upcoming expansion demonstrate a committed response to the challenges faced by many families, ensuring that more children in Central Florida will have access to fresh and nutritious food.
