Richmond, VA - Today, Anne Holton visited a children’s center and a local food bank in Northern Virginia. In Falls Church, Holton visited the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center, which provides a high-quality early childhood program designed to give children a strong foundation on which to build educational success, regardless of their backgrounds. Later, Holton visited the Capital Area Food Bank in Lorton to learn about their “Kids Café” program, which provides nutritious meals for local children.
Holton began the day with a tour of the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center, which has provided affordable pre-K options for more than 40 years. Currently, the Center serves more than 70 children and was selected as one of only three child care centers in Fairfax County to participate in Governor Kaine’s Start Strong early childhood education pilot program in 2007.
“Throughout his career, Tim has always advocated for programs that provide Virginia’s children with the support they need to live healthy, successful lives,” said Holton. “As governor, he worked with the legislature to expand the number of children in pre-K by nearly 40 percent and helped pass a bipartisan, record higher education bond package to renovate and construct academic facilities across the state. These investments helped earn Virginia recognition as the best state to raise a child.”
Later, Holton visited the Capital Area Food Bank, to learn about the Kids Café program in Lorton. The program works with local partners and community centers to provide nutritious meals to children in Northern Virginia. Last year, the program served more than 344,000 meals to more than 1,800 children.
“Programs like Kids Café at the Capital Area Food Bank provide critical services for children in need in our communities,” said Holton. “We need more folks in Washington like Tim who will keep the needs of Virginia’s children and families in mind, and take a balanced approach to deficit reduction that will allow for investments in programs like this one that support those who need it most. Tim understands that if we want to strengthen our economy to improve the lives of all Virginians, we need to balance necessary cuts with resources for priorities like education, health care, and infrastructure.”
Since the beginning of the year, Holton has traveled across the Commonwealth to meet with voters and share Kaine's commitment to work across the aisle to create jobs and strengthen the economy.
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