City reports $100,000 emergency food distribution and schedules shelter contract reviews

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Amy Popovich told the Education and Human Services Standing Committee that last week the city partnered with Feed More, Chesterfield County and other local partners to support 18 food-distribution sites across Richmond. Popovich said the city provided $100,000 to support the effort, which delivered about 40 pounds of food (roughly 33 meals) to some 7,000 households over the course of a single week.

Popovich credited multiple city departments and partners for the operation, saying it relied on contributions from finance, parks and recreation (including use of a parks truck) and Richmond Public Schools to distribute food and to get backpacks of food home with students. "We were able to make sure that there was lots of sites throughout our whole city ... to make sure that everybody had a site that was accessible to them," she said.

Committee members thanked staff and used the update to highlight upcoming contract work. Chair Lynch flagged a planned December review of the city—s contracts with the Salvation Army and with Home Again to examine shelter requirements and the city—s inclement-weather shelter arrangements; staff confirmed they are already in communication with both partners about renewals. The committee added contract review for Salvation Army and Home Again to the agenda for the next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.

The staff report captured two action items for follow-up: scheduling an RPS presentation on the RPS master facilities plan in spring, and Hopkins— follow-up on crossover-youth data in advance of the December meeting. The committee then approved minutes for the Oct. 9, 2025 meeting and adjourned.

Next steps: staff will return with contract-review materials on Salvation Army and Home Again and a calendar for presentations, and Hopkins will provide requested crossover-youth data.