Education Spotlight: Stafford High School Bands Provide 58,333 Meals for the Community
14th annual Band Together Against Hunger event raises funds and food donations for the regional food bank.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele


Stafford County’s combined high school bands raised $27,593 and collected 3,778 pounds of food for the regional food bank through the 14th annual Band Together Against Hunger campaign.
The amount raised equates to 58,333 meals for the community served by the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, according to a press release from the school division.
Drum majors from the five county high schools and event coordinator Debbie Pickerall presented a check to the Food Bank at last week’s School Board meeting.
At a special concert on November 4, each high school marching band performed individually, and for the finale, the bands combined into a 400-member super group, conducted Stafford High School’s assistant principal Brandon Neal, “showcasing unity and talent,” according to the press release.


Audience members were asked to bring one non-perishable food item instead of paying an admission fee, and online donations were also accepted. Community organizations and businesses—including Chick-fil-A, Manhattan Pizza, Outback Steakhouse, and the Student Organization for Change at the University of Mary Washington—made significant donation. Volunteers from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Boy Scout Troop #2220, and Girl Scout Troop #15 also helped make the event a success.
In 14 years, Band Together Against Hunger has provided meals to 400,000 members of the community.
“This year’s contributions reflect the ongoing community need, as many families continue to face food insecurity due to rising costs and economic challenges,” the press release states.
The Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank will distribute the donations to local pantries and feeding programs.


Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!