Congratulations to the Virginia FCCLA local chapters who received a mini-grant in the fall of 2025!
Plan now to submit an application to fund a national program project for your chapter! Click here for the application and be sure to submit by October 1:
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Heritage High School ~ Students will identify child nutrition needs to deliver three hands-on nutrition workshops at an elementary school. Each workshop will include a cooking demo, tasting, and a recipe card to take home. Students will teach age-appropriate lessons on handwashing, kitchen safety, and nutrition.
Mountain View High School ~ We are collaborating with our school’s Ceramics Club to host an Empty Bowls event to raise funds for the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank. The Ceramic Club will be making bowls and FCCLA will make and serve soup. During the event the community will be invited to come, buy a bowl and choose their soup for a donation to the food bank and all money raised will be donated. The mini grant will be used to purchase supplies to make the soup. We also plan to collaborate with our school’s social media coordinators to help us advertise for the event.
Stuarts Draft Middle School ~ Our chapter will focus on combatting local food insecurity through multiple community service activities this school year. The chapter will be serving monthly from August – April at LifeWorks Project’s River City Bread Basket, a customer choice food pantry in Waynesboro. Our members will serve as “runners.” The role of runner is critical to the efficiency of the food pantry, as the doors close every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The goal is to get as many people in and out as possible so no one is turned away; runners are the volunteers who help the Bread Basket reach that goal. Members will also arrive before opening time to wash fresh produce, and pre-package laundry detergent, dog food, diapers, etc. for the Bread Basket. On Friday, Nov. 21, SDMS FCCLA will host the first ever “Friendsgiving” event at SDMS. This will be a schoolwide event. In order to attend, each student is required to donate at least 2 cans of food at the entrance, making this event an effective canned food drive. All food collected will be donated to River City Bread Basket. At Friendsgiving, there will be board games and cornhole from 3:15 – 3:45, followed by a showing of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie and a meal for everyone that is similar in spirit to the meal Charlie Brown and Snoopy provide for their friends in the movie. Friendsgiving will conclude with 15 minute small group activities focused on gratitude and service.
Giles High School ~ This grant will help bring holiday joy to families in our community through a special Christmas Program planned by FCCLA members in partnership with New River Valley Community Action and the Children’s Health Improvement Partnership. Together, we will create an evening filled with games, crafts, and a holiday meal shared with neighbors. The highlight of the night will be a visit from Santa, who will deliver a gift to every child, making sure each family leaves with lasting memories. Families enrolled in the CHIP program are low income families with children under the age of 6.
James Wood High School ~ We will raise funds to pay for laundry services in a local laundromat for 10-15 struggling families on 3 different days. On the 3 days our members will be present to provide shelf-stable meal kits, parent education on the importance of sharing regular family meals, and provide children’s activities. We plan to raise enough money to create an on-going Laundry Fund to be administered by a local non-profit (CCAP).
Patriot High School ~ After researching many topics, students decided on a mental health focus. Each student is designing a vivid and fact-based flyer about mental health statistics, prevalence, coping techniques, and self-care habits that can be displayed in the hallways, as well as passed around with the materials sought for this project. A bulletin board was designed and displayed with breathing techniques and calming quotes for all students who pass through the FCS classroom. A video PSA will be written and shared school-wide with hopes that the county will promote it and allow sharing within all middle and high schools in the county. A workshop-style session will be set up with the Prince William County chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness in conjunction with FCCLA members, and the Our Minds Matter club at Patriot HS. We’ll invite students within our school for a session about awareness, advocacy, and hands-on self-care activities. The session will then be scripted and materials will be duplicated into 50 Calming Kits to be distributed to schools county-wide, that could be checked out by teachers from the counseling office for classroom use – all kits will have laminated instructions and either reproduceable activities and/or reusable materials contained within. Each kit will start with a few consumable items, but those will eventually need to be replaced by the schools receiving the calming kits. The digital PSA will also be placed on our county’s One Drive for access through the link provided.
Rye Cove High School ~ Our FCCLA chapter will open and manage a Care Closet at Rye Cove High School to provide students with access to clothing and personal hygiene items. Chapter members will collect, sort, and organize donations of clothing and hygiene products to create a welcoming, easy-to-navigate closet. FCCLA members will create posters, announcements, and digital campaigns to raise awareness about the Care Closet and its availability to all students in need. Students will be able to confidentially access clothing and personal hygiene items weekly, with FCCLA members assisting in maintaining inventory and ensuring respectful distribution.
Ella Fitzgerald Middle School ~ Students will create a monthly “Fuel Up With Fresh Foods” video series highlighting a healthy fruit or vegetable. Each month, FCCLA members will research one food item, purchase it with grant funds, and create a short video demonstrating: nutrition benefits; multiple ways to prepare it (snacks, simple recipes, etc.); and fun facts to encourage students to try the food item. FCCLA members will be responsible for planning, filming, and editing the videos. These will then be shown during school-wide homeroom periods once a month.