U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills, Jr., along with representatives from the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation, visited the schools of the Armenian villages of Tsiatsan and Amberd to donate $80,000 worth of new school equipment, training aids, furniture, sports equipment, and kitchen appliances, the Embassy said in a press release.

These schools were chosen to receive the donation, provided by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property program, after Ambassador Mills’ 2015 visit to the region, where he saw first-hand the efforts of the United Nations World Food Program to provide hot meals for primary school students.

“It is very special for me to be back here nearly three years after my first visit to these schools, and I am delighted to deliver on the promises I made to you back then,” Ambassador Mills said to an audience of local leaders, school staff and students.

“By working with the UN Food Program, you will now have the equipment you need to provide hot meals and educational support to nearly 300 children in your communities.”

The goal of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property program at the Tsiatsan and Amberd Schools is to support the schools by providing new furniture and equipment and to supplement programs implemented by other donors, including the UN World Food Program.

The Tsiatsan School, with World Food Program support, began providing hot meals to students in September 2015. Half of the 300 students at the Tsiatsan School receive hot meals through this program. The feeding program at the Amberd School began even earlier, in 2014. Around 120 out of a total of 244 primary grade students benefit from this program. The school feeding program was implemented as a social safety net to provide nutrition and sustenance for children to enable them to focus on their studies.