HOLIDAY GOAL: PROVIDE 25,000 MEALS
This year’s MLK drive aims to replenish the depleted Foodbank
The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank distributed a record number of meals at a time when donations were low. Now, Newport News is looking to help replenish the food supply with today’s Fifth Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Food Drive.
“We’re in desperate need so it’s going to be even more important this year that we try and replenish
the shelves and try and make sure that people who are in need have food,” said Newport News Mayor McKinley Price.
The number of people facing food insecurity in the area has “grown tremendously,” said Karen Joyner, chief executive officer of the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.
Before the pandemic, about 11.1% of people on the Peninsula faced food insecurity, now it’s around 14.8%. Between April and September, more than half of the people who received support were first-time food recipients.
The Foodbank estimates an average of 31,300 Newport News residents — or 17.3% — including 10,350 children under the age of 18 are experiencing food insecurity.
Joyner said her goal would be to raise enough food and monetary donations to provide 25,000 meals. Last year, the food drive raised the equivalent of 22,000 meals.
“In general, the food that we get during this time of year needs to last us through the times of the year when people do not think about the fact that there are hungry people,” Joyner said. “People are hungry all year round but we tend to get most of our donations in November and December, so this being in the middle of January will help us to stretch what we received during the busier months a little bit longer into the spring.”
Joyner anticipates a lull in the number of people accessing services this month because of stimulus checks and tax refunds, along with extra SNAP benefits and the additional unemployment benefits that were passed with the stimulus package. But any decrease would likely be temporary.
“The jobs aren’t going to come back automatically. It’s going to be a period of time before all of those thousands of households who have lost their jobs are able to find new jobs,” Joyner said.
At the same time, the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank was experiencing an 18% decrease in food donations.
As food flew off the shelves, grocery chains didn’t have anything left to donate to the Foodbank, Joyner said. Much of the donations come from its partnerships with grocery stores.
Price’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Food Drive is the second largest annual food drive for the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.
Price said he had the idea for the event after researching King and concluding that he’d wanted the day to be a day of service.
“I looked at the community and saw one of the greatest needs was the food bank and I said you know what, I’m going to start a food drive on his day” Price said.
The event is hosted in partnership with U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, Delegate Marcia Price, Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan, Riverside Health System and the Virginia Unity Project. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew is joining the partnership for the first time this year.
During the fiscal year that ended June 30, the food bank’s mobile and community pantry sites distributed a record 833,000 meals — a 62% increase from the previous fiscal year.
With fewer donations, the Foodbank relied on federal food from the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the United States Department of Agriculture.
“Prior to COVID, the amount of the USDA food that we had on hand was at a record amount, so it was fortunate for us — being in an area of lower resources — that we were able to use this government food to distribute. We had a lot of it at the same time there was a lot of need in the community,” Joyner said.
For people interested in donating before Jan. 18, food drop-off boxes are available at Newport News City Hall and the city offices in Fountain Plaza Two in City Center.
The community can also bring donations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank, which is located at 2401 Aluminum Avenue in Hampton. This year’s donations will be collected in drive-thru format and donors are asked to remain in their vehicles and wear masks.