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Central Virginia Food Bank Provides Hunger Relief During Pandemic

VCU CNS | December 20, 2020

Topics: coronavirus, COVID-19, Elizabeth Adams, Federation of Virginia Food Banks, Feed More, Feeding America, food banks, food insecurity, Massey Cancer Center, Meals on Wheels, Pandemic, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, USDA Farmers To Families Food Box Program, Virginia Department of Social Services, Virginia Roadmap To End Hunger

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.

Long Live The Dirt: A Monument In Memory of Dirtwoman Comes To Oregon Hill

Marilyn Drew Necci | April 9, 2019

Topics: Chris Dovi, Dirtwoman, donnie corker, Jerry Williams, Mamma'Zu, manhole cover, Massey Cancer Center

At Mamma’Zu over the weekend, supporters unveiled a monument to Dirtwoman’s legacy at a dinner to benefit the Massey Cancer Center.

We all remember Dirtwoman: a bastion of Richmond’s LGBTQ community, larger than life, sometimes difficult, often cheerful, and always unforgettable. Now the memory of the man born Donnie Corker will be preserved for future Richmond generations, in the same unique fashion in which he lived his life.

“You move to Richmond, you’re aware of Donnie,” said Chris Dovi, local journalist and executive director of CodeVA. “He’s sort of a looming character, so to speak.”

Corker’s life is impossible to condense into a concise paragraph. He was the star of a GWAR video, performed annually to benefit the economically unfortunate at Hamaganza, and appeared grinning in many a news article due to stunts such as crashing former Governor Doug Wilder’s inauguration. He also sold the best roses you could find on Grace Street in its punk rock glory days.

In September 2017, after decades on the streets of Richmond, feet planted solid in the hearts of all who knew him, Corker died in his sleep. He was 65.

At Mamma’Zu in Corker’s old neighborhood of Oregon Hill — his longtime day job — people gathered Sunday to celebrate his life and unveil a new memorial to the Richmond icon. In lieu of tickets was a $50 donation, the entirety of which benefited Massey Cancer Center.

Members of Corker’s family at Mamma’Zu. Photo by Jerry Williams

“As Donnie was approaching the end, he shifted his attention — he wanted anything using his name to benefit Massey Cancer,” Dovi said, “They had saved his life about a decade earlier.”

Among the approximately 45 people in attendance were members of Corker’s family and many of his friends. Attendees ate a hearty Italian multicourse meal and enjoyed a raffle of Dirtwoman-related prizes. Dovi, who organized the event, said a few words to the group, as did Jerry Williams, who recently completed a much-anticipated documentary about Corker’s life — which is set for a hometown premiere at the Byrd Theatre April 25.

After the meal, the whole group filed outside to witness the memorial unveiling.

“I promised Donnie that I would make sure that he had a monument in Oregon Hill,” Dovi said.

The monument, a well-kept secret until the moment of its unveiling, turned out to be a manhole cover. In black letters over an image of Corker’s face, it reads “DONNIE CORKER” in black letters, followed by the dates of his life, and his legendary nickname: “’DIRTWOMAN’.”

“Manhole cover for Donnie, of course!” Williams said, laughing.

Photo by Jerry Williams

As VCU pools ever outwards, the face of the city has been shifting and changing. Oregon Hill, a historically white, working class neighborhood (“redneck,” according to some of those interviewed) has not always been the safest place for the LGBTQ community. But Corker was unafraid. He flaunted his style and owned his brand.

“…He was unashamed,” Williams said, “he would call you out if you gave him any shit.”

Corker wasn’t one to step down. He wasn’t one to hide who he was. He wore it out in the open, his heart on his sleeve. And in the city of Richmond, he’ll always be remembered for it.

Top Photo by PJ Sykes

Richmond Brunch Weekend: Rooftop Edition at The Graduate Richmond

Joe Vanderhoff | March 6, 2018

Topics: brunch, Graduate Richmond, Massey Cancer Center, rooftop, vcu

Join us on the Byrd House rooftop for Massey Alliance‘s Richmond Brunch Weekend 2018.

On March 24 and March 25, we will be serving an à la carte brunch on the Graduate rooftop. Of course, we will have Massey Mimosas (Blood Orange!), and 15% of brunch proceeds will go to our friends at VCU Massey Cancer Center.

See you on the roof!

Escape to the Caribbean for Yelp Richmond’s 4th annual benefit party at Kabana Rooftop Saturday

Amy David | June 22, 2016

Topics: Aloha Cafe, Carytown Cupcakes, Croakers Spot, fundraiser, Kabana, Massey Cancer Center, Red Eye Cookie Company, Yelp

Dreaming of a summer vacation on a cruise that sets sail on a hot sunny day and carries you away from your worries to beautiful destinations around the country?
[Read more…] about Escape to the Caribbean for Yelp Richmond’s 4th annual benefit party at Kabana Rooftop Saturday

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