Valencia College, Florida Blue and the Florida Blue Foundation celebrated the launch of a new VCentials market at the college’s Osceola Campus in Kissimmee. VCentials provides students with free access to healthy food and hygiene items in a store‑like environment on campus. The partnership seeks to improve the lives of students facing food insecurity caused by rising food costs, low‑pay part‑time jobs and loss of free lunch programs after high school. Florida Blue and the Florida Blue Foundation contributed $399,745 to support the market, which follows a West Campus location opened in 2023 and a second one opened in 2025.
Since the first VCentials opened on West Campus, the resource center has recorded more than 60,000 visits, with 82 % of visitors reporting living below the federal poverty level and 38 % reporting at least one person in the household under age 18. The new VCentials is located in Building 4 of the Osceola Campus. At the opening event Florida Blue announced an additional $3 million in grants this year to eight Florida nonprofits addressing the state’s food security crisis, including two Central Florida recipients, Advent Health Foundation and Grace Medical Home.
Press release issued by Valencia College:
https://news.valenciacollege.edu/valencia-college-florida-blue-foundation-open-new-vcentials-market-at-osceola-campus/
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