Get A Tax Deduction In Patch Holiday Food Drive In DC

WASHINGTON, DC — The Patch Holiday Food Drive is raising money for Feeding America and the food banks, pantries and meal programs in D.C.

The cumulative effect of 39 weeks of historic joblessness and business failures because of the coronavirus pandemic is as plain as the bare cupboards in millions of kitchens across America: As many as 50 million people, including about 96,000 people in D.C., don’t have enough to eat.

You can help by giving to Feeding America in Patch’s Holiday Food Drive.
Contributions are tax-deductible, so if you give now, you’ll be able to include your donation in your 2020 tax return.

The food drive runs through Dec. 31. For every $1 you give, Feeding America is able to supply 10 meals.

Many of the families experiencing food insecurity don’t qualify for federal nutrition programs, and they need to rely on their food banks and other hunger relief organizations to have enough to eat, according to Feeding America.

Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Some of the places in D.C. that will benefit are:

• Food Pantry by Bread for the City, SOME (So Others Might Eat)-71 O Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001; 202-695-7816
• Community Outreach - Food Bankby Greater Fellowship Full Gospel Baptist Church, 814 Alabama Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC 20032; 202-561-5594
• Martha's Table Markets by Martha's Table, 1474 Columbia Road Northwest, Washington, DC 20009; 202-328-6608
• Food Pantryby SOME (So Others Might Eat), 71 O Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001; 202-695-7816
• Emergency Food, Food Pantry by Faith Tabernacle of Prayer - 2465 Alabama Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020; 202-678-6012
• Emergency Food, Food Pantry by Canaan Baptist Church - Northwest, Washington, DC 20010; 202-234-5330
• Helping Hands Food Distribution by First Rising Zion Baptist Church - 602 N Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001; 202-289-4480
• Pop-up Pantries and After School Mealsby Capital Area Food Bank
• Allen Chapel AME Church, 2498 Alabama Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC 20020
• Love Is Action Food Pantryby Greater Refuge Temple D.C., 500 56th Street Northeast, Washington, DC 20019; 202-388-5605
• Food Pantryby Holy Temple Church, 439 12th Street Southeast, Washington, DC 20003
• Food Marketsby Produce in a SNAP, 4275 4th Street Southeast, Washington, DC 20032
• Food Giveaway by New Samaritan Baptist Church, 1100 Florida Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC 20002
• Food Pantry by Freedom Chapel Church, 1430 Alabama Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC 20032

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic.

To put that into perspective, about 35 million people in the United States struggled with hunger in 2019, according to the latest report on household food insecurity by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Households with children are the most vulnerable to food insecurity. Before the pandemic, more than 10 million children lived in food-insecure households.

Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in D.C. will rise to 14 percent in 2020, up from 10.7 percent in 2018.

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 billion meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.

How To Support The Patch Holiday Food Drive

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.