Blue Ridge Area Food Bank asks community to make GivingTuesday a Giving FoodDay

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, with the support of Kroger, can double the impact of donors who make an online gift at brafb.org, allowing supporters to make their GivingTuesday a Giving FoodDay.

Kroger has pledged to match each gift dollar for dollar up to the first $30,000 through their Zero Hunger, Zero Waste initiative. This means donors who support the Food Bank’s work on GivingTuesday/Giving FoodDay can help provide eight meals for every dollar they donate.

In 2019, the Food Bank received enough funds on GivingTuesday to provide 273,500 meals for those in need. This year, the Food Bank hopes to secure enough money to provide approximately 360,000 meals for households in need during this unprecedented time.

“Since the start of the pandemic, the response from our neighbors—caring individuals, community groups, businesses, and media partners—has been awe inspiring. They never left our side. In fact, even more neighbors decided to stand with us,” said Michael McKee, CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

“COVID-19 has hit everyone hard, but we’re hitting back harder. Together, we’ll do the work of providing groceries for households vulnerable to the current poor economic conditions related to COVID-19.”

With about 24,000 more people visiting its partner pantries and program sites on average each month, the Food Bank has purchased 4 million pounds of food since mid-March, compared to 1.3 million pounds of food purchased in the same period in 2019.

The Food Bank is meeting the needs of children, seniors, and families whose finances are spread thin without the support of federal supplemental unemployment assistance or federal stimulus payments.

But hunger doesn’t wait, and neither does the Food Bank.

Volunteers and staff members believe in their communities’ desire and willingness to help people during this global, online giving event.

“GivingTuesday inspires people all around the world to embrace their power to drive progress around the causes they care about, not just on one day but throughout the year.” said Asha Curran, GivingTuesday’s CEO and co-founder.

“With country and community leaders, millions of organizations, and countless givers of all kinds, GivingTuesday is creating a shared space where we can see the radical implications of a more generous world.”

Those interested in joining the movement can learn more about the Food Bank’s  GivingTuesday/Giving FoodDay initiative by visiting www.brafb.org/event/giving-tuesday.