Volunteers Brave the Cold to Battle Student Hunger

On January 15th, over 350 Food For Neighbors volunteers collected and sorted donations to help students who face food insecurity. The bitter cold did not stop them or the 1,150 community members who made the generous contributions for distribution in secondary schools in five Northern Virginia areas: Herndon, Springfield, Falls Church, Fort Hunt, and Sterling/Ashburn. Thanks to their community spirit, Food For Neighbors collected over 17,000 pounds of food and toiletries.

Donations will help vulnerable students in 25 schools in Fairfax County and Loudoun County. Schools served in the Sterling/Ashburn Area include: Sterling, Seneca Ridge, and River Bend middle schools as well as Park View, Potomac Falls, and Stone Bridge high schools.

“With all of the energy and enthusiasm, I almost forgot about the cold weather,” shared Karen Joseph, Cofounder and Executive Director of Food For Neighbors. “It must have been all of the warm hearts.”

Joseph continued to praise the hard work of the volunteers supporting the all-volunteer nonprofit that now mobilizes thousands of community members to battle hunger in partnership with their local schools.

“I love our communities. We’re seeing a continued increase in need, and our dedicated volunteers and donors are rising to the occasion. This is allowing us to expand our services to even more schools.”

Food For Neighbors welcomes additional Northern Virginia middle and high schools, volunteers, and organizations to participate in the program. School staff and PTA representatives interested in bringing the program to their schools may send an email to contact@foodforneighbors.org. Community members may make monetary contributions, sign up to donate food, and express interest in volunteering at https://www.foodforneighbors.org/get-involved/. Businesses and organizations interested in becoming Food For Neighbors partners, may contact Renee Maxwell, renee@foodforneighbors.org.

Food For Neighbors: Hunger Is Closer Than You Think