Community Corner
Food For Neighbors Collects Record Amount of Food
The all-volunteer non-profit now supports students at 16 schools!
The generosity of our community is continuing to make a difference in the lives of area teens! At the Food For Neighbors 2019-2020 school year kickoff, held at Herndon Middle School, Irving Middle School, and Jackson Middle School, 48 drivers collected a record amount of food— approximately 7,200 pounds—from more than 600 households. Then 100+ volunteers sorted the food into more than 350 bins and distributed the bins to 16 schools, where a total of nearly 1,000 students are being fed weekly. This food is offering students much-needed stability, and it is helping them to be able to focus on learning at school. They have food they can take home over the weekend where hunger is a struggle often.
An all-volunteer charity, Food For Neighbors has rapidly grown from serving over 100 students at Herndon Middle School and Herndon High School, to serving over nearly 1,000 students weekly. The program now supports additional schools in Fairfax County, including Irving, Key, Jackson, and Whitman Middle Schools as well as West Springfield, Lee, Bryant and Mountain View High Schools. The program has moved into nearby Loudoun County schools including Sterling Middle School, Park View High School, River Bend Middle School, and Potomac Falls High School. Food For Neighbors also provides supplemental food to Langston Hughes Middle School and the South Lakes High School food pantry. The program is currently being rolled out in the Fort Hunt area, with its Red Bag Program launch scheduled for October 26th.
Food For Neighbors thanks all of its sorters, drivers, and food contributors, who leave donations on their doorsteps in the well-known Red Bags for collection just a few times per year. Hunger is closer than you think. To become a Red Bag volunteer, visit https://www.foodforneighbors.org/red-bag-program/.
