Food For Neighbors Kicks Off a Second Year of Combating Teen Hunger

On September 9, 2017, Food For Neighbors kicks off its second year of providing nutritional support to students at multiple area schools, including Herndon High School and Herndon Middle School. Food For Neighbors invites community members to register to donate food or volunteer at www.FoodForNeighbors.org and to visit the September food collection and sorting location 11710 Plaza America Drive in Reston, VA at 9:30 a.m. for opening remarks.

Karen and Mark Joseph founded Food For Neighbors to address teen hunger in Herndon and surrounding communities. They had learned that, other than weekday school breakfasts and lunches, many students had few reliable food sources, which often meant going hungry during the evenings and weekends. While various programs had recently begun to address this concern at the elementary school level, they were too limited to address the large middle and high school populations. In 2016, Food For Neighbors began filling this gap and soon received positive feedback about the program’s ability to address hunger and, as a secondary result, to improve academic performance. In this short time, demand for the program grew. It now serves students at Herndon High, Herndon Middle, Potomac Falls High School, Park View High School, and Bryant Alternative High School, and additional schools have requested support.

“I was shocked to find that in Fairfax County—one of the wealthiest counties in the nation—one in four children go hungry every day,” noted Karen. “To me, that meant that it could be the children next door, around the corner, or down the street who are struggling with basic nutrition. Our children’s peers in their classrooms could be struggling to learn, pay attention, or stay focused as a result of being hungry. Mark and
I felt we had to do something.”

Mark furthered, “The development of our ‘Red Bag Program’ was key to the success of the program, as it allows individuals to shop for non-perishable items at their convenience and to set them on their doorstep for collection a few times per year.” Volunteers organized by neighborhoods then collect, sort, package, and deliver the food to participating schools, where social workers and parent liaisons distribute the food packages on a weekly basis.

“It’s a very efficient program,” noted Christa Soltis, a “Red Bag” volunteer. “I receive reminders via email and text, and, when the volunteer collects my donations, he/she leaves me a new ‘Red Bag’ and shopping list as well as an emailed receipt. It’s an easy way to help make a big difference in the lives of young people.”

Food For Neighbors is a local, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charity with a mission to end hunger in Herndon, VA and the surrounding area. For more information, about Food For Neighbors and the September 9th kick-off, please visit www.FoodForNeighbors.org.

Hunger Is Closer Than You Think
www.FoodForNeighbors.org
Contact@FoodForNeighbors.org