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Hungry Harvest are the Food Heroes We Need

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From the many food insecurity issues created by the pandemic to the ongoing threat of food scarcity due to climate change, access to fresh produce is one of the biggest challenges we’ll face in coming years. Thankfully, Hungry Harvest is here to help.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the country (and the world) pretty hard. The economy has been hurt in a variety of ways, from jobs lost or indefinitely put on hold to some industries changing entirely in a desperate attempt to stay afloat in a world crisis that even now has no road map in sight. Through this trickle effect, housing was one of the largest targets directly affected, along with the greatest equalizer — food. 

On average the United States wastes between 30 and 40 percent of its food supply every year, with the annual value being approximately $161 billion. In 2020 over 54 million Americans were food insecure, with 18 million of them being children. This is a massive increase from the previously recorded 37 million (and 11 million children) in 2019 — thanks, of course, to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Having to fight with your landlord about your rent during a worldwide health crisis that is leaving no one untouched is bad enough; trying in the midst of it to ignore the fact that you have no idea where your next meal is going to come from just adds salt to the wound. Luckily there are some companies out there ready to help. 

Hungry Harvest, which was founded in 2014 by Evan Lutz, is trying to help find a solution for that. Not only do they run a produce subscription box service helping deliver fruits and vegetables that may not have otherwise survived the grocery store, in the process they are actively trying to eliminate food insecurity and waste. 

On average, about 45 percent of food is wasted. However, since 2014 Hungry Harvest has since about saved about 27 million pounds of food from landfills, while ensuring that over 1.7 million pounds of produce go to local people in need. But if we know this is an issue, why are we so comfortable with wasting food knowing that we have community members in need? 

“I think on an institutional level, the fact there really is no incentive to not waste food is a good [reason],” said Bart Creasman, Hungry Harvest’s Senior Brand Manager in Raleigh, North Carolina.

A significant cause of food waste is purely cosmetic concerns — is the food attractive? Not only will some grocery stores refuse to stock fruits or vegetables that are not visually appealing, but some farmers will not even harvest produce that isn’t considered attractive. 

“The beginning of our company was founded on ugly produce,” said Creasman. “That is certainly a big contributor. A farmer won’t even harvest  items that they don’t think will sell. ”

Photo via Hungry Harvest/Facebook

It makes sense on a surface level. You’re walking through the berry section of your local big box grocery store and are provided with two options – fire engine red strawberries that are the perfect, almost cartoonishly proportionate shape, or strawberries that are fresh and taste the same, but are a little misshapen or discolored? Odds are you chose the first batch, and in turn the second batch at some point was pitched because it didn’t sell. 

It’s a purely instictual choice, one your big box grocer is fully aware of — and they do not care. 

“It’s like a little dance,” said Creasman. “They know what we want, and we know what we want. We certainly don’t want them to throw food out, [but] we kind of want to ignore that problem as consumers, and as grocery stores there is a very easy way to ignore that problem, by throwing it away. ” 

Beyond the pandemic, our old friend climate change refuses to go away, like the party guest that can’t take a hint despite the fact that the lights are out. As climate change and its effects continue to haunt us, is the possibility of ever running out of food enough to get us to expedite how we waste food on average? Maybe… or maybe not. 

“In a perfect world, Hungry Harvest would not need to exist, but we just take what would otherwise fall through the cracks,” said Creasman. “You hope that the threat of climate change, and even some of the very noticeable things we’re seeing this year, the past few years, will have that effect. Because food waste in landfills is way worse for the environment than general waste.”

A horrifying but nonetheless true fact is that a head of lettuce takes roughly about 25 years to decompose in a landfill. The reason food waste in a landfill is worse for the environment than most general waste is because, while food wasting away in your backyard will decompose, food waste in a landfill has other things piled on top of it, which help preserve it by causing it to take longer to break down. While it is under those layers, the food waste releases methane gas which is, to be blunt, way fucking worse than carbon dioxide. 

Yikes. 

Crop yields and the amount of product that they are actually able to harvest are another contributor to the conversation around food waste. A farmer can grow 50 pounds of potatoes, but if they are only able to harvest about 30 pounds of that product, that is a contribution. 

“[Crop yields] are related to food waste because of how specifications dictate what is worth harvesting,” said Kevin Kresloff, Director of Procurement and Purchasing for Hungry Harvest. “Many growers, if not all growers, only collect the merchandise they know they have an outlet for, versus what they know they don’t. That amount of product that doesn’t have a customer would be considered when factoring in yield. ”

On the growth side of things, farmers and their distributors were heavily affected by the pandemic, especially if they had a primary focus on the food service industry. With every restaurant on the block closed, where was the food supposed to go?

“Lots of crops that are primarily used in food service settings were in need of homes,” said Kresloff. “Otherwise, things seemed to stay relatively consistent, due to larger purchasing habits from customers who were going to the store for one big shop so they didn’t have to go back anytime soon. Other factors being an increase for home delivery services and the Farm to Families government initiative that helped support the movement of product.”

Photo via Hungry Harvest/Facebook

Food that doesn’t make it to the consumer is considered a food loss, as opposed to willful food waste. Other factors in the occurrence of crop loss are general market fluctuations, and the weather. Regardless, in the end, sometimes it comes down to how growers are able to distribute.

“Growers typically have relationships with several types of buyers,” said Lisa K. Johnson, Adjunct Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. “If they don’t, they would have been dramatically affected. For example, if a grower’s only clients were food service, they may have tanked. All food service that we can think of was dramatically affected. However, if they have retail clients, they may not have been able to supply enough. It’s a matter of a grower either having the bandwidth to have their own sales department or a huge variety of connections to have been able to survive this kind of pandemic.”

Despite the heavy clouds surrounding the discussion of food loss and waste, it isn’t entirely hopeless. There are steps that we can take on the community level to try to prevent as much waste as we can. 

“Willingness to make use of what we have,” said Kresloff. “We need to educate ourselves on how to navigate small defects versus considering the entire product to be unusable. Use what you have. Be resourceful.”

Top Photo via Hungry Harvest/Facebook

Ram Pantry Makes Sure There’s Still Food on the Table

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A greater number of VCU students than you think struggle with food insecurity. Fortunately, Ram Pantry is there to help alleviate food insecurity within the VCU campus community.

College students already have a lot on their plate regarding stress. From finals, to worrying about finding employment after graduation, to just finding a parking spot, there is a lot going on for students without adding food insecurity to the equation. An average of 38 percent of students are food insecure countrywide, with more specific statistics varying by college and state. A global pandemic on top of it all is, to say the least, not helping. 

Luckily for students of Virginia Commonwealth University, there are options like Ram Pantry.  An institution within the university for years, Ram Pantry helps provide food to students at VCU who face the challenge of being food insecure. Students can qualify by going online to the pantry’s website and filling out a Google Doc application to pick up donated food. All student identities are kept private, and most of the information is used as a census to get a better idea of what students’ needs in the area are, both in a dietary sense and in terms of overall need. 

“[Ram Pantry] is open to all students,” said Lisa Mathews-Ailsworth, Advisor for Off-Campus Student Services at VCU. “We do ask that they be in need, but we do not have anything that disqualifies anybody.”

Mathews-Ailsworth oversees and ensures that the pantry functions, while also advising in the VCU dean of students’ office. She noted that while the Google Doc helps give Ram Pantry a better sense of the needs of the overall student population, it is also used as a way to figure out what financial needs the students have, and what steps they can take to help. Whether it is help with budgeting, the SNAP benefits program, or connecting with the various resources on campus, ultimately the end goal is for students to no longer need the pantry. 

“We can also help them connect with the various resources on campus, the biggest one of which we try to push is budgeting,” said Mathews-Ailsworth. “They can meet with you, talk with you, talk about your budget from work or financial aid, where is the money going, how can we help you to get more money, or save money. We work with [students] as a liaison, and try to figure out how we can help them to be successful personally and academically, and what kind of skills they need to reach that level of success.”

One of the biggest ways that Ram Pantry tries to help students facing varying levels of food insecurity is academically. Certainly one of the biggest stressors students face in these situations is money for food, but that leads into the long term effects that students will have due to food insecurity — not just on their health, but on their academic performance and resulting futures. Naturally, if you’re focused on where your next meal is coming from you are not going to think about too much else. This can make scholastic focus difficult, which turns into a long term set of cascading dominos. 

“If you don’t have a roof over your head, or you don’t have food in your stomach, it’s very difficult to focus on your academics or social interactions with other students,” said Mathews-Ailsworth. 

Lisa Mathews-Ailsworth. Photo via VCU

Ram Pantry is entirely volunteer-led. Pre-COVID, it was staffed by four work study students, and during COVID, it is entirely virtual and contactless. Two students workers work there each day, with eighteen student workers total on staff. So far this year the pantry has seen upwards of 569 visits; the numbers pre-pandemic were even higher. 

When the pandemic hit, many students working in the service industry lost their jobs and understandably opted to stay home, if possible, in order to save money. Ram Pantry also took a hit amidst the uncertainty that everyone faced last March, and opted to shut down until further notice because, like the rest of the world, they were not sure what was going to happen next. 

“We cleared out shelves 100 percent,” said Mathews-Ailsworth. “We took everything we had and divided it into boxes, and just gave it out to students and told them to take it. No one knows what the future holds, who knows what is going to happen financially. Period.”

The pantry reopened that September and started completely from scratch. They relied almost entirely upon the kindness of strangers, especially their donors.

“They came through with flying colors,” said Mathews-Ailsworth. “Hungry Harvest started giving us produce, Duncan United Methodist Church in Ashland gave us bread every week. The Pace Center was crucial in getting us stocked back up. Kroger came through like no other and gave us $6000.”

Times of struggle often prove that your neighbors are there for you to lean on when you need them, even when they are big names, such as grocery giant Kroger. However there is still lots of ground left to cover with other powerhouses, even the ones in your own backyard. As a VCU alumni myself with memories of Rodney the Ram vivid in my head, this writer had a big elephant in the room to tackle. 

Has having an organization on campus like Ram Pantry made VCU more cognizant of their own food waste? 

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it does,” said Mathews-Ailsworth. “The dining halls are not usually able to donate because of federal laws. Because of the way that insurance policies are, if they donate to an organization, they can be held accountable if someone is sick.”

Fortunately, one thing that can not be denied is that Virginia is for lovers, and cities like Richmond pride themselves on their love of community. Whether it is protecting small businesses from megalo-mart giants, or ensuring our college students are receiving the help they need, Richmond gets it done when times get tight. 

If you want to get involved with Ram Pantry, the best thing you can do is donate. Information about the best way to donate food, money, organize a food drive for Ram Pantry, buy them things from their Amazon wish list, and more can all be found at the Ram Pantry’s website. But outside of doations, the biggest way you can help is a lot easier than you might think. 

“We rely a lot on word of mouth,” said Mathews-Ailsworth, “Even just talking to people about the Ram Pantry is super helpful to us, because you never know who you are talking to, and who might know somebody that is food insecure, or might be struggling and didn’t know we are a resource.”

Top Photo via VCU Ram Pantry

Hungry Harest proudly partners with VCU Ram Pantry

Central Virginia Food Bank Provides Hunger Relief During Pandemic

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Feed More has always focused on providing Central Virginians in need with food. During the COVID-19 pandemic, their services have been more in need than ever, and this nonprofit is rising to the occasion.

When COVID-19 was declared a national emergency at the beginning of March, Feed More, a hunger-relief organization serving Central Virginians, was serving roughly 161,000 food-insecure individuals. 

Fast forward to early June, and Feed More was assisting more than 241,000 food-insecure individuals, according to Doug Pick, CEO and president of Feed More. 

“It [the pandemic] increased the number of folks that weren’t sure where their next meal was coming from by about 50 percent,” Pick said.

That 50 percent increase, he said, was largely from those who were newly unemployed as a result of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity throughout Virginia and across the country. With 2020 coming to a close, food insecurity is lingering in many Virginia households as hunger-relief organizations and local officials scramble to curb one of the pandemics’ consequences.

Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as limited or uncertain availability or accessibility to nutritionally adequate food. Nearly 10 percent of all Virginians — or almost 843,000 people — are struggling with hunger, according to Feeding America, a nationwide hunger-relief organization.

An additional 447,000 Virginians will experience food insecurity because of the coronavirus pandemic, Feeding America estimates. Across the country, millions of Americans have lined up in their cars or by foot for miles at food banks awaiting their next meal.

Photo courtesy Feed More.

Nationwide, food banks also have to grapple with the dilemma of increased demand while maintaining their agencies network. In 2019, Feed More distributed about 32 million pounds of food, Pick said. This year, he estimates the organization will distribute between 40 to 44 million pounds of food. The nonprofit distributes food with the help of agencies, including churches, emergency shelters, rehab centers, soup kitchens, and other organizations. 

“We worried about that network collapsing because most of those agencies are run by volunteers, and a lot of them are seniors,” Pick said. At one point this year, Feed More lost 13 percent of its 270 agencies.

Feed More did not witness the phenomenon of long lines other regions experienced and was able to meet the community’s food crisis, Pick said. 

“We put out some guiding principles early on that said: stick with our infrastructure, never abandon the infrastructure you built unless you have to,” Pick said. “So, we didn’t panic.”

Those guiding principles upheld Feed More’s mission while adhering to COVID-19 safety precautions. 

Feed More’s Meals on Wheels program usually serves meals daily, but it is now delivering these meals frozen, once a week. The organization’s community kitchen, which preps approximately 20,000 meals a week, now is divided into two kitchen spaces – a prepping kitchen and a cooking kitchen – in two separate buildings, according to Pick.

Recent research found that the number of families who experienced food insecurity increased by 20 percent in the United States as a result of the pandemic. The study was co-authored by Elizabeth Adams, a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center. 

“We all know (the pandemic) had so many profound effects across so many aspects of people’s lives and has gone on for a long time,” Adams said.

The study methodology surveyed households across the country in late April and May with different food security levels – high food security, low food security and very low food security – about food consumption during the pandemic.

The survey saw a 73 percent increase in home cooking across all food security levels. The amount of in-home food availability increased 56 percent for food-secure families but decreased 53 percent for low food-secure families.

“For very low food-security families, we saw an increase in pressure to eat,” Adams said, “which means that parents are pressuring their children to eat more.”

Food is prepared for distribution at FeedMore, one of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) partner agencies, located in Richmond, Virginia. USDA Photo by Preston Keres.

Adams said she hopes the government takes notice of the data on how widespread food insecurity is across the country, which she said disproportionately affects low-income Black and Hispanic families. 

While bringing awareness to the importance of government assistance programs and other food assistance initiatives, Adams called for these programs to “really up the benefit that they are providing at this time, because we see that a lot more people likely need them.”

Programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, saw an increase in enrollment during the initial months of the pandemic’s spread in the United States, reported the New York Times. According to data collected by the New York Times, SNAP grew 17 percent from February to May, three times faster than any prior three-month period.

In March, 687,984 Virginians were enrolled on food stamps. That number jumped to 746,608 the following month, an 8.5 percent increase, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Since March, eligible Virginians have been granted SNAP emergency benefits during the pandemic, according to The Virginia Department of Social Services. The agency recently expanded these benefits through December, with more than 245,000 households eligible for emergency benefits.

The state recently launched the Virginia Roadmap to End Hunger initiative that seeks to end hunger by developing policies, programs and partnerships.

Feed More and its partners had a stable food supply and community support because of government assistance, Pick said. Such assistance includes the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Food banks, such as Feed More, and other nonprofits were able to give out family-sized boxes of produce and meat products that the department purchased from farmers and distributors affected by the closure of restaurants and other food-service businesses.

Governor Ralph Northam also announced in November $7 million in Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act funding. The funding will be allocated to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, which Feed More is a member.

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the already serious problem of food insecurity in Virginia and across the country,” Northam stated in a press release. “This funding will help Virginia food banks and other food assistance programs meet the increased demand for their services and ensure every Virginian has continued access to nutritious food during these challenging times.”

Feed More will use its allocated $1 million to provide refrigeration, freezer, racking, and vehicles to its partner agencies.

However, Pick said he is concerned for the following year as the pandemic continues. He said there needs to be long-term government policies to address food insecurities beyond food banks’ control. 

“The food banks have always been here for emergency purposes. When people get to a tight bind,” he said. 

For now, Pick said Feed More will continue its best to provide food assistance to Central Virginians.

“The need is out there,” Pick said. “The jobs are not coming back overnight, and this (food insecurity) is just going to continue on.” 

Written by David Tran, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Feed More Meals on Wheels volunteers. Photo courtesy Feed More.

‘Black Space Matters’ Exhibit Transforms Asphalt Lot into Garden

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The “Commonwealth” exhibit at VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art features work from 10 artists, including an outdoor garden installation by local activist Duron Chavis — which looks pretty amazing from an overhead view.

A local activist transformed a vacant lot outside the Institute for Contemporary Art in Richmond to highlight issues of food security and the importance of Black and brown community spaces.

The “Commonwealth” exhibit at Virginia Commonwealth University’s ICA features work from 10 artists including an outdoor installation created by activist and community farmer Duron Chavis, who builds gardens throughout Richmond. The full exhibit seeks to examine how common resources influence the wealth and well-being of communities.

Chavis proposed the resiliency garden exhibit in 2019, during a public forum at the ICA. The resiliency garden — food grown to weather the tough times and to have food independence — is installed in an asphalt lot at Grace and Belvidere streets next to the ICA, and features 30 raised beds of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Concept drawing for Duron Chavis’ Resiliency Garden, 2020 design by Quilian Riano of DSGN AGNC.

An extension of the garden exhibit is the “Black Space Matters” mural by Southside artist Silly Genius. A wall in the lot is painted, with fruit making the word Black; beneath the garden in big, yellow letters is the phrase “Space Matters.” The garden beds have historic quotes from civil rights leaders Kwame Ture and Malcolm X, among other activists. 

“Black Space Matters means that Black people need space,” Chavis said. “We need space that is explicitly designed, planned, and implemented by Black and brown people.”

Chavis, along with a crew of volunteers, started building the garden on Aug. 10, while the ICA temporarily closed to install other exhibits.

“We invited him to think with us about how to activate a vacant lot next to the ICA,” said Stephanie Smith, ICA chief curator. “You could think about what it means to take a space and institutional resources, then give them over to an activist.”

Chavis seeks to address lack of food access through his activism. Food insecurity, defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food,” is an issue in Richmond’s low-income neighborhoods. The city had over 35,000 food-insecure people in 2018, according to Feeding America, a network of more than 200 food banks.

“In a conversation about food justice, Black people are predominately impacted by lack of food access,” Chavis said. “We need space to address that issue.”

Low income communities need access to resources and necessary skills to solve food wealth issues on their own, he said. 

“We do not need anybody to come into our community to drop off food,” Chavis said. 

He’s been doing work like this since 2012 and doesn’t have a hard count of how many garden beds have been built. 

“Dozens, oh god, it’s all across the city,” he said. 

Chavis amplified his efforts this year because of the pandemic. He fundraised and received a grant, according to a VPM report, to build over 200 resiliency gardens with the help of volunteers. 

The “Commonwealth” exhibit features work from 10 artists including an outdoor installation created by community farmer, Duron Chavis, who builds gardens throughout Richmond. The resiliency garden is installed in an asphalt lot next to the Institute for Contemporary Art and features 30 raised beds of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Photo by VCU CNS.

Quilian Riano, an architect at New York studio DSGN AGNC, designed the concept drawing for the ICA garden, which was envisioned as a public space for conversation and lecture. The completed garden is nearly identical to the original design, except with an added texture and dimension, Riano said.

 The “Commonwealth” exhibit will be open until Jan. 17, 2021. After the exhibit ends, the gardens’ supplies and plants will be redistributed to other resiliency garden project locations throughout Richmond. Chavis collaborates with other groups and people to help people grow their own food during the pandemic.

Tickets to the indoor exhibitions can be reserved on the ICA website. Exhibits include a video performance by indigenous artist Tanya Lukin Linklater, Carolina Caycedo’s “Distressed Debt” and a sculpture by Lukin Linklater and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge.

Written by India Espy-Jones, Capital News Service. Top Photo by VCU CNS.

Speaking The Language

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The Latinos in Virginia Empowerment Center is a longstanding local organization that works to help victims of domestic violence. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, they have been taking on more challenges facing Central Virginia’s Latino community.

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“Sorry, I don’t speak Spanish.” It’s a phrase that the Latino community is all too familiar with in the United States. Language barriers are an obstacle that the Latino community has to work around on a daily basis. Normally, it’s just a mundane obstacle when asking for directions, or maybe a specific product. But when that obstacle is placed between a domestic violence victim and the help they need, it makes things that much more difficult.

Gabriela Telepman, an outreach and volunteer coordinator with The Latinos in Virginia Empowerment Center (LIVE Center), said that they strive to not have any Spanish speaking victims hear “I don’t speak Spanish” when they’re seeking services. “Our agency is the first and only victim service agency in the state of Virginia that can guarantee all of its services are provided by not only bilingual, but also trained bicultural advocates,” Telepman said. “This is how we build trust with our clients.”

The LIVE Center’s mission is to provide education, advocacy, and support to Spanish speaking individuals in Virginia who are affected by violence and injustice, in order to ensure that they can access services empowering them to become happy, healthy, and self-sufficient. The organization started out as a grassroots initiative in 2008 with the goal of overcoming these obstacles. Since then, they have been a beacon for those who are victims of domestic violence but come across a language barrier when seeking help.

While they most commonly deal with domestic violence, their services are also extended to sexual violence, human trafficking, harassment, child abuse, hate crimes, or any violence that may cause trauma.

But now, the LIVE Center is doing even more to build trust with clients. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately been affecting the Latino community in Virginia. This has forced LIVE Center to go a more virtual route with some of its services, through things like their Facebook page. But more than that, they have been stepping up to an increased need of help that is beyond domestic violence.

One of the ways they’ve been active during the pandemic has been supplying food to clients experiencing food shortages. According to Telepman, LIVE Center saw the need arise around March, and they have since started a food pantry consisting of culturally appropriate non-perishable food items.

Elvira De la Cruz, CEO and senior advocate of LIVE Center, made a point that the items donated to the food pantry should be culturally appropriate, or the instructions need to be in Spanish.

De la Cruz recalled a moment years ago when another shelter asked for her assistance with a Spanish-speaking client. “When I went to talk with this lady and talk with the people in the shelter, they were surprised that this lady was saying that they were not providing food,” she said. After looking into the situation, De la Cruz soon found the problem.

“What I find out is they are providing food, and in the shelter she even had a cabinet with her name labeled on it, but when we opened it there were a lot of microwavable foods,” she said. “Nobody took the time to explain to this lady that that was food and they can prepare that, because we as Latinos, especially this lady that I’m talking about… make it from scratch. And when she was going to the kitchen and opened the cabinet, she only saw boxes.”

That is why LIVE Center feels it is so important to get culturally appropriate foods. De la Cruz said that it’s a great feeling to have someone come to a pantry and see something that they’re comfortable with. “It’s not just giving food to the bellies, it’s also feeding the souls,” she said.

Items that would be beneficial include, but are not limited to: Beans, rice, Maseca, seasonings, adobo, and sofrito.

LIVE Center has also been helping Latino people who have been financially impacted due to the pandemic through a new financial assistance program that started between May and June. The funds provided through this program are separate from the assistance given to victims of domestic violence.

In addition to all of the services that they are now providing, LIVE Center has also been collaborating with other organizations, working earlier this year with Diversity Thrift’s Viva! RVA! Food Drive. LIVE Center is now looking to help again in a second food drive.

They are also collaborating with Sylvia’s Sisters, whose mission is to provide quality feminine hygiene products to disadvantaged girls and women. LIVE Center has partnered with them to help supply feminine products, including pads, liners, and tampons, to disadvantaged people in the Latino community.

“Period products cost money, and if people are struggling for food, they’re definitely also struggling to buy expensive things like tampons and pads,” Telepman said. “But that’s an essential item, just as food is, because every woman gets her period.”

LIVE Center has been putting stickers inside these feminine hygiene products. “These stickers have our helpline and then the statewide helpline, and then a little blurb about how if you or someone you know needs help or is in a violent situation, please call — in both English and Spanish,” Telepman explained. “We put them in the package themselves so they’re not displayed right when you see the bag, in case a victim is taking them home in the house where she lives with her abuser. We don’t want the abuser to know that she’s trying to get out of the situation.”

With all of these new services that LIVE Center is providing, the collaborations with Diversity and Silvia’s Sisters, as well as a huge influx in calls reporting domestic violence LIVE Center has actively been looking for more volunteers.

De la Cruz said while they would happily take any volunteers for indirect work, what LIVE Center really needs are bilingual and bicultural volunteers to help victims of domestic violence.

“Advocates here and the helpline are taking more hours working with those clients. I need more people to answer the phone. My accountant is running more checks, so that costs more,” she said. “We are so happy to have made this work for our community, but also we need to increase the bilingual staff here, and we need to increase the operation.”

There are three levels of volunteers, each with their own free training that LIVE Center will provide that is standard across Virginia. The first level volunteers are people that would help around the office and help victims of domestic violence indirectly. This level requires minimal training, but the next two require significantly more.

“The extra training is needed because in order to deal with a domestic violence case and understand all of that trauma… you need to learn about domestic violence — different types of violence, and what that is,” Telepman said.

Volunteers with the proper training can partake in a program called “defensores comunitarios,” or “community advocates,” in which trained members of the Latino community are then able to empower each other from within to better serve victims of violence.

“They’ll take our training and then they’ll go out in the community and talk about our services. [That way], they’ll be able to help maybe their friend, or their family member, or a mutual friend overcome their obstacles and develop a safety plan,” Telepman explained.  “We’re trying to distribute our knowledge and our resources throughout our community, not be selfish and restricted to just, ‘you have to come to our organization.’ We want everyone to be able to know how to overcome their own issues.”

De la Cruz stressed that it’s very important for these high-level volunteers to be both bilingual and bicultural, so that no one seeking help ever has to hear “sorry, I don’t speak Spanish” again.

“We have opportunities for everybody,” De la Cruz said. “We have volunteers that are just English speakers… but for [those who are] in touch with clients directly, we want people that are bilingual, that can speak the language, and bicultural.”

Level three volunteers can help with answering the phone and helping victims. There are some volunteers available to take the overflow of calls, but LIVE Center could use the extra help, especially since they plan to expand their availability by phone.

“Right now we have our helpline operating Monday through Friday during business hours, because we only have three people on our staff to answer the phone,” said Telepman. “But we are expanding that into a 24-7 hotline, because we have seen a need. We have seen people call after hours, we have seen people call on the weekends, and we don’t want these calls to go to waste. We don’t want an emergency to be happening and not be able to respond appropriately.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with domestic violence, please call (804) 658-3341.

All Photos via Latinos In Virginia Empowerment Center

Schools, Nonprofits Hustle To Feed Over Half Million VA Students

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Richmond school bus driver Tyrone McBride is still driving a big, yellow bus through Richmond neighborhoods, but these days, he’s transporting boxes of food for kids in need.

“It gets me out of the house,” said McBride, who has been a school bus driver for 18 years, “and you know, you’re doing a great deed and helping people out.” 

More than a week has passed since Gov. Ralph Northam announced students will not return to school this academic year, and volunteers are still working to feed the 590,000 children in Virginia eligible for free or reduced lunches who were ordered to remain home during the coronavirus pandemic. Schools have been closed since March 16, though students were originally slated to return by March 27. 

Whitcomb Court resident Simone Sanders said her children are now eating at home during the day, but she didn’t receive an increase in food stamps. One child is disabled, which prevents Sanders from being able to work.

“It’s affecting us bad, especially in the projects, and there’s nothing for the kids to do all day,” Sanders said. “And then you have to worry about your child just being outside getting shot.”

Sanders said she’s grateful for the food from Richmond Public Schools, and says she occasionally gives food to neighborhood kids who say they’re hungry.

A yellow school bus full of food parks near a corner in Whitcomb court. Photo by Hannah Eason

The Richmond Public Schools meal distribution program, like others around the state, continues to evolve during the coronavirus pandemic that caused a surge of Virginians to file for unemployment. Almost 46,300 Virginians filed for unemployment between March 15 and March 21. The previous week 2,706 people filed an unemployment claim, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.

The program started with 10 school sites, and has since grown into at least 43 sites throughout the community and 10 school sites.

Erin Stanley, director of family engagement at Richmond Public Schools, said volunteers, bus drivers, and the district’s nutrition staff have made the efforts possible. Volunteers were using personal vehicles to drop off food, but RPS decided that school buses would better suit the cause.

“We did that for a couple of reasons,” Stanley said. “One, so we can get more food out, and two, because school buses are a bit more well known and probably more trusted than individual volunteers going in with their personal vehicles.”

Plastic bags filled with milk cartons, sandwiches, apples and snacks are handed out in neighborhoods found on the Richmond Public Schools’ website. School distribution sites are open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and neighborhood times vary by location. Any student in the school district can use the program, Stanley said.

Volunteer Natalie Newfield said many families she gave meals to lost jobs in the restaurant industry.

 “They’re changing the way they do deliveries, which is amazing,” Newfield said. “Every day you give them a count. If they need more food, the next day, all of a sudden your bus has more food. It’s incredible.”

Statewide efforts to feed children in Virginia

When schools closed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture activated the Summer Meals Program, which funds public schools and local organizations to serve breakfast and lunch during the summer.

Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, pressed the USDA to change its policy which required parents to have their child with them when picking up food.

Roem said it was difficult for a Prince William County mother to access food for her two children. Her daughter has an immune system deficiency caused by recent cancer treatments, making her susceptible to the COVID-19 virus.

“When you’re talking about a seven-year-old with cancer, we have to really evaluate what is it that our policy is trying to prevent that is more important than feeding a child with cancer,” Roem said.

Roem said she was able to bring groceries to the family, who live in the representative’s district. As they carried bags of food inside, Roem said the mother told her children, “We’re eating tonight.”

“I fought with the USDA for a full week and won a major, major victory for kids throughout Virginia and across the country, and especially immunocompromised kids, to make sure that they stay safe, that they stay home,” Roem said.

The USDA waived the restriction last week, and states can now choose to waive the in-person policy for students to receive food.

School hallways are empty at George Wythe High School, but several volunteers are handing out food and educational packets to Richmond Public School students in the cafeteria. Photo by Hannah Eason

No Kid Hungry, a national campaign launched by nonprofit Share Our Strength, is offering emergency grants to local school divisions and organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grants can help people who are trying to make meal distribution possible, but may lack the equipment necessary to feed children outside of a school setting. 

Sarah Steely, senior program manager at No Kid Hungry Virginia, said the grants can fund necessities like vehicles, gas, coolers, and equipment to keep food safe during distribution.

“Those might not be resources that folks already have, because those aren’t service models that were expected of them before,” Steely said, “so we’re here to support community organizations and school divisions as they figure out what it is they need to distribute to kids.”

The organization works with YMCAs, childcare centers, libraries, and all 133 of Virginia’s public school divisions.

The organization recently activated their texting hotline for those unsure of where their next meal is coming from: text “FOOD” to 877-877. The hotline is generally used during the summer months, but was reactivated to combat food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Steely called the hotline “a tool in a bigger toolbox of resources” and encouraged families to contact their local school board for updated information about their locality.

“They count on that as a primary source of nutrition, so with schools closed, we want to make sure that the students who are accessing meals at school are now accessing those meals at home,” Steely said.

Written by Hannah Eason, Capital News Service. Top Photo: From left, volunteer Robert Morris, volunteer Keith Washington, volunteer Vanessa Mauskapf, bus driver Starlette Rowland and bus driver Tyrone McBride hand out food near Hotchkiss Field. Photo by Hannah Eason.