When someone in our community finds themselves in a crisis, they can come to Food for Others so that they do not have to sacrifice feeding their families full, healthy meals during their time of need. Those who visit the Food for Others warehouse take home “emergency groceries,” which are boxes of food that last
“Give someone a fish, and you’ll feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, and you’ve fed them for a lifetime.” The origin of this quote is hotly contested, but its validity is most certainly not. Self-sufficiency is a sure way to promote better health outcomes within a community. But what happens when the
My journey with Food for Others began in 2009, when I was going through a really tough time in my life. I had been in a traumatic event which put me into a depression and someone suggested that trying to give back to my community might help distract me from everything I had going on
As the Executive Director of a food bank/pantry, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to reach hungry people in our community. Even though we serve over 30,000 individuals each year, we know that 75,000 people live in poverty in Northern Virginia. That gap keeps me up at night. How do we reach
I have been at Food for Others for about three years as one of our volunteers. I will be starting my fourth year in 2020. For my first two and a half years I worked on the Power Pack Program, but now I work on both sides of the warehouse : in P3 and as
We have an audacious goal at Food for Others this holiday season. We know that there are families in need of food that we’re not reaching, and we’re going to do something about it. We’re counting on you to help. A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the economics of living in our region
$114,105 is the amount that a family of four needs to earn to live comfortably in Fairfax County according to the Economic Policy Institute. $33,745 is the maximum amount a family of four can earn in Virginia and still qualify for SNAP (formerly food stamps) benefits. Do you see the gap there? In one Fairfax
Wegmans in Fairfax has launched its Check out Hunger campaign benefiting Food for Others. From now through December 14, when shoppers check out at Wegmans in Fairfax, cashiers will give them the option to add a donation to Food for Others. For several years, Check out Hunger has helped Food for Others fight food insecurity
The practice of agricultural gleaning is an ancient one, with historical records indicating it has been in existence for at least 4,000 years. Exactly what is it? It’s quite simple really. People go into fields, orchards, vineyards and gardens after formal harvesting has taken place and pick what ripe produce is left. In ancient times,
Barely a day goes by without a mention in the news of college admission scandals, whether it’s wealthy parents bribing their child’s way in to top schools or elite universities giving preference to the children of wealthy donors. This can leave the impression that all college students are showered with large allowances and have