Written By: Sandy Werner (Director of Marketing & Communications) & Les Sinclair (Communications & PR Manager) As Food Bank staffers, we learn a lot from talking with our guests, pantry leaders, and colleagues. We understand chance plays a big part in who enters, stays in, and emerges from poverty. Things like the zip code [...]
Written By: Les Sinclair, Communications & PR Manager Veterans Day is a time to thank our veterans for their service, recognize their roles in our national security, and underscore their sacrifice. It is odd to think that anyone who has risked life and limb for national security doesn’t have food security, but it happens [...]
[The following is a summary of material presented in a virtual CEO Forum event on September 1, 2022. You can watch the recording here.] By Michael McKee, CEO At the Food Bank, we often say “food is medicine.” We believe that brighter tomorrows begin with good food today, which is why we work diligently [...]
Written By: Jacob Matz, Partner Engagement Manager, Lord Fairfax Region At the Food Bank, we often say solving hunger is a community-wide effort and that we are better together. In my role, I see countless examples of the passion and drive that our network partners demonstrate every day to ensure that everyone has enough [...]
Written By: Maria Bowman, MPH, Director of Health Initiatives The first Nutrition Security and Health Summit was held in Richmond in April. Organized by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, it was a truly incredible gathering of food bank staff, healthcare partners, funders, and community leaders. We were all there to explore together innovative, [...]
Written By: Tyler Herman, Director of Partner Engagement Over the last six years, the Food Bank, with the support of our generous donors, has been investing in the resilience and capacity of our partners through our Agency Capacity Fund. Through this Fund, we aim to help partners source the equipment and materials they need [...]
[The following is a summary of material presented in a virtual CEO Forum event on March 31, 2022. You can watch the recording here.] In March 2022, we marked an anniversary we would rather forget: It has been two years since the onset of the pandemic. From March 2020 to the end of December [...]
About 1 in 16 (6.2%) older Virginians are food insecure, according to Feeding America’s most recent Senior Hunger Study. Among those we serve, seniors face varied and unique challenges. These include specific dietary needs, declining health and mobility, social isolation, stigma associated with accessing food assistance, and limited options for affordable nutritious foods, especially [...]
Women are strong, compassionate, and resilient. Yet, despite decades of progress in gender equality, women disproportionately experience hunger and poverty compared to American men. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic crisis, an elevated need for food assistance is being fueled by an uneven economic recovery, especially for women and low-skilled workers, [...]