Stamp Out Hunger collects 170K pounds of food
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank received more than 170,000 pounds of food during Stamp Out Hunger on May 12. That will provide more than 144,000 meals to families in the Blue Ridge region during the first few weeks of summer.
Now in its 20th year, Stamp Out Hunger is one of the Food Bank’s most important food drives of the year, as it helps stock the shelves before the summer slump. While hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation, food and financial donations plummet dramatically between June and September. Stamp Out Hunger provides a much-needed boost. Read more
Stamp Out Hunger food drive set for Saturday
On Saturday, May 12, letter carriers across the nation will be participating in the country’s largest, single-day food drive – Stamp Out Hunger. Sponsored by the National Association for Letter Carriers, this food drive will be taking place across the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s service area, including Lynchburg, Winchester, Charlottesville, Staunton, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg and the surrounding counties.
Mail carriers will pick up non-perishable food donations left outside by residents as they deliver the mail along their daily route. Read more
“Raising a Ton (2,000 pounds) of Money for the Food Bank”
The Kiwanis Club of Waynesboro is kicking off their “Raising A Ton of Money for the Food Bank” fund-raising campaign benefiting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
The campaign will conclude at the club’s annual Kiwanis Charities for Kids Pancake Breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March17 at the First Baptist Church in Waynesboro. Kiwanis Club members will focus on involving and encouraging the community to help Kiwanis in their goal to raise a “ton of money” in support of the Food Bank. Read more
Food Bank bracing for shortages
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is expecting to lose more than 2 million pounds of food in the coming months – about 10 percent of its supply.
Within the last 60 days the Food Bank received word from food manufacturers that it would be receiving significantly less donated food due to advancements in technology that help manufacturers become more efficient. With less excess inventory, fewer products will be available for donation.
Compounding the problem is the threat of substantial drops in food donations from the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture. The Food Bank is at risk of losing another 300,000 pounds of food as legislators seek ways to trim the budget. Read more
One in five children in Augusta, Rockingham at risk of hunger issues
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, today released a new study which reveals that more than 20 percent of children under the age of 18 in Augusta County are struggling with hunger. In Rockingham County, more than 19 percent of children are food insecure.
The study, “Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011″, also reveals that there are children struggling with hunger in every county in America. Nationally, while one in six Americans overall is food insecure, the rate for children is much higher: nearly one in four children is food insecure.
“Between Augusta and Rockingham counties, more than 6,600 children are at risk of hunger. Imagine, 6,600 hungry children …,” said Larry Zippin, CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. “And the number of food insecure children in the surrounding localities is alarming as well. These are children we know and see every day. They are our neighbors – even your child’s best friend.”
The study is an important tool because it provides critical information for developing strategies to alleviate child hunger.
One way in which the food bank has been tackling child food insecurity is through several afterschool feeding programs, in particular, the BackPack Program, an initiative that provides children at risk of hunger with backpacks full of nourishing food to carry home on weekends and school vacations. Children at Wenonah, William Perry and Craigsville elementary schools have been benefitting from the program for several years. And the numbers are rising. The Food Bank has experienced a 17 percent increase in participation across all of its afterschool feeding programs in the Valley between the 2010 and 2011 school years.
Of the 6,600 children at risk of hunger in Augusta and Rockingham counties, more than 4 in 10 qualify for nutrition programs, such as SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps) and other Federal Nutrition programs, but are not receiving the assistance because they are above 185 percent of poverty, making them ineligible.
By providing additional details about the face of child food insecurity at the county level, “Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011″ will enable food banks, the community based agencies they serve and policy makers to redefine approaches in addressing needs of hungry children and their families and develop more effective policy solutions.
This research is supported by ConAgra Foods Foundation. The ConAgra Foods Foundation funded this research with the goal of advancing the collective understanding of child hunger in America, so that resources at the local and national level could be better leveraged to help children and families in need.
The research is based on “Map the Meal Gap 2011: Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level”, supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nielsen.
Letter carriers team up with Food Bank to help Stamp Out Hunger
On Saturday, May 14, Campbell Soup Company will again join forces with Valley area letter carriers to Stamp Out Hunger across America, providing assistance to the millions of Americans who are struggling to put food on their tables every day.
Now in its 19th year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, which is always held on the second Saturday in May, has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Since its inception, the drive has brought in more than one billion pounds of food.
To participate in the Stamp Out Hunger drive, Valley area residents are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soups, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal, next to their mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Local letter carriers will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
This annual drive is the largest of the year for the Food Bank, and it is especially important because it helps stock the Food Bank’s shelves before the summer, when there is often a decline in donations. More people than ever are relying on the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank for assistance. On average, the Food Bank is serving more than 35,600 people each month in Staunton, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg, Lexington and the surrounding counties. Unemployment and underemployment have driven thousands in our area into the ranks of the hungry.
Food Bank receives donation of hams from Giant
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank CEO Larry Zippin (left) receives a donation of hams from Michael Greller, district manager at Giant Foods and a Food Bank board member.
Giant Foods delivered a truckload of 150 hams to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank on Wednesday for area families in need. The hams arrived just in time for the Easter holiday.
Giant traditionally has supported the Food Bank throughout the year and during major holiday seasons with food drives, fundraisers and large food donations, providing hundreds of thousands of meals to families served through the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Central and Western Virginia.
