Love Your Neighbor, Feed Your Neighbor

On Saturday, May 4th, many Loudoun residents participated in a county-wide food drive titled, "Love Your Neighbor, Feed Your Neighbor.”  This food drive is the result of a multi-faith coalition organized with one goal, to feed the hungry in Loudoun.  This is the second multi-faith food drive; the first was done in 2012.  This year, volunteers collected 64,096 pounds of food throughout Loudoun neighborhoods and several designated drop-off locations to help meet the needs of the hungry in our area.   Over 3,000 lbs of that food came from County employees after Chairman York extended a challenge to "fill his office with food."

At the April 17th Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Meeting, the Board voted to proclaim May 2012 as Hunger Awareness Month in an effort to help meet the demands of the County's growing hunger issue.  A consensus amongst the food banks in the area agree that the toughest time for those in need not only occur during the winter when giving is at its peak.  The toughest times often come a few months after the holidays and during the summer months when school food programs are less prevalent.

Dawn Dumas, Manager of the food pantry for Catholic Charities western Loudoun office shared that often times during the summer months the Western Regional Office can run low on many important items.  "With the children home for the summer the need for nutritious food within homes increases. There is an increase in food pantry usage; however, there is a decrease in food donation."

Erika Huddleston, pantry director at Messiah's Market operated by The Community Church in Ashburn echoed this need stating, "Messiah's Market ran out of food in July 2011; that’s why Hunger Awareness Month in May was so important.  The summer months are the time when nobody has hunger on their mind.  It’s actually those times of year that the food is most needed.”

Lynette Austin, representative from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated the collected  food would be donated to six (6) county food pantries as compared to 5 in 2012:  Loudoun Interfaith Relief, Seven Loaves Services Inc., Messiah's Market, LINK and Catholic Charities:  Diocese of Arlington - Loudoun County Office and Tree of Life Ministries in Purcellville.

Another recipient of this County food drive is a program called Backpack Buddies.  This program provides nutritional meals and snacks to students whose primary source of food is the school cafeteria.  

Once the collected food was sorted and delivered to the 6 county food pantries and the Backpack Buddies program the distribution was as follows: 

Backpack Buddies:  5,338 lbs          

Catholic Charities:  8,043 lbs

LINK against Hunger:  11,469 lbs

Messiah's Market:  5,783 lbs

Seven Loaves Services Inc.:  2,293 lbs

Loudoun Interfaith Relief:  31,159 lbs.

Tree of Life Ministries:  4,495 lbs.

Jaime Rubinos, Manager of Operations at Loudoun Interfaith Relief shared that they have come to rely on this multi-faith food drive.  "This multi-faith food drive is essential in keeping our shelves stocked and prepared for the summer months.  Without it, we would find it difficult to meet the needs of the hungry during the summer."   

Gail Barker, one of the western Loudoun coordinators said of the drive, “It was a very wonderful and successful service project. It was rewarding to see so many hands that were willing to help make "Love Your Neighbor, Feed Your Neighbor" a success. Many hands definitely made light work.”

Lisa Lombardozzi, President of LINK against Hunger cited that, “LINK received 11,469 pounds of food.  The multi-faith food drive was a major restock for us. Congressman Frank Wolf has supported the idea that the calendar year should be divided into four quarters, with a group responsible for each quarter including schools, businesses, civic organizations and Scouts.”

This project titled, "Love Your Neighbor, Feed Your Neighbor" was the inspiration of a multi-denominational effort.  This year 5 more denominations participated in the planning process.  They multi-faith group now includes: All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Ashburn Presbyterian, (The) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons),  Community Church Virginia Academy, Galilee United Methodist, St. David's Episcopal, St. James' Episcopal,  St. Matthew's Episcopal and St. Frances De Sales Catholic Church.    

The Hunger Awareness Month Initiative helped send a message of support to those in need, raised awareness of this critical issue and encouraged our citizens to come together to lend a hand.