The following summarizes material presented in a virtual CEO Forum on April 10, 2024. You can watch the recording here. By Michael McKee, CEO On April 10, I was fortunate enough to connect with many of the Food Bank’s partners and donors to update them on the state of food banking in central and [...]
[The following summarizes material presented in a virtual CEO Forum on April 12, 2023. You can watch the recording here.] By Michael McKee, CEO Everyone should have enough to eat. Full stop. But we know we still have some work to do to realize this vision for the future. From July to December, the [...]
[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 [...]
[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 [...]
Grappling with big questions about the future of food assistance [The following is a written summary of material presented in a virtual CEO Forum event on Oct. 7, 2021] What an impact one year can have—on the world, on our country, on our state, and in each of our communities. While I wish that [...]
This month marks a year of historic hardship for all of us—but especially for the families we serve. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every part of our lives. And for our clients, the changes have been significant, including loss of wages, housing instability, and lack of regular access to nutritious food. Over the course [...]
George Floyd was one of us. We never met him, never even knew of him before May 25. But he was one of us. Like so many others, those of us at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank are heartbroken for George Floyd’s family and community and for what his brutal death says about [...]
Dear Friends of the Food Bank, Our hearts go out to those who have already been impacted by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. I write to share our current focus and short-term plan at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Although the impact of this outbreak is changing every day in [...]
“I have more than enough.” With these five words, University of Virginia Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tony Bennett explained why he turned down a substantial raise this year so that the money can be used instead to support UVA’s athletic programs. In August, Coach Bennett participated in the Charlottesville 29 auction, which benefitted the Blue [...]
In early summer, each chamber of Congress passed its own version of the Farm Bill, which funds critically important food assistance programs for food banks as well as for SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. The Senate passed a bi-partisan bill – 86 voting yes, 11 voting no – that [...]