Foodbank of Southeast VA

10 • Progress 2022 Stronger Together Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore Addressing hunger and its root causes

By Titus Mohler

The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore is doing important work in the community to end hunger, and there are a variety of ways people can become part of this effort.

Foodbank Chief Impact Officer Emma Inman said the Foodbank leads the effort to eliminate hunger in the community primarily through two avenues — feeding people who are hungry today and addressing the root causes of hunger to help people become self-sufficient.

Inman noted that feeding people who are hungry today involves “your traditional food banking that you think of where we work with agency partners like soup kitchens, food pantries. We partner with a lot of faith-based organizations, as an example. We’re the warehouse that gets food to those agencies. They distribute that food into the community.”

She said the Foodbank also has some direct distribution programs, but it is primarily through its network agency partners that it feeds people who are in need of healthy, nutritious meals today.

Inman described a new initiative aimed at getting food into communities where it is needed most — the Foodbank’s 757 Mobile Markets.

A mobile market is a 40-foot vehicle that will hold 20,000 pounds of food.

“It has refrigeration and freezer capacity, so not only are we delivering fresh produce, but we’re also delivering lean frozen meats and dairy products, all of those products that are highly nutritious, and in current times as we’re experiencing inflation which is impacting grocery store costs, it’s those products that are some of the most expensive at the grocery store,” Inman said. “We are delivering those free of charge to neighbors in communities where that access is really needed the most, to vulnerable communities.”

She noted that Western Tidewater is being served by this initiative.

Inman also noted that the area will be served starting this summer through the Foodbank’s Western Tidewater Branch and Community Produce Hub that is being built at 618 South St. in Franklin. The Foodbank is currently operating out of a temporary location at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Franklin.

The new branch and hub at 618 South St. will have what is called a client-choice model, enabling people to browse and choose their own fresh, healthy grocery products like they were in a grocery store.

The new branch and hub will also have the capability to help eliminate hunger through the other key avenue — addressing hunger’s root causes.

“We recognize that providing a meal to people is not enough to end hunger,” Inman said. “So we are partnering to do financial literacy and workforce development. We have partnerships with educational partners, we have partnerships with health care partners, so getting at all of those things that are causing people to experience food insecurity, and by addressing that, we hope to be able to help people on the path to self-sufficiency.”

The second floor of the new branch

SUBMITTED | FOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA AND THE EASTERN SHORE The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore works to eliminate hunger and to address its root causes, and it relies upon donations of money, time, voices, food, resources, knowledge and abilities. Pictured is the current location of the Foodbank Community Produce Hub in Franklin — the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

and hub will be dedicated to addressing hunger’s root causes, hosting the aforementioned partners, who will be available to help those who are interested.

In terms of what people can do to contribute to the Foodbank’s efforts, Inman emphasized that the Foodbank relies on the generosity of the community and always needs help from community members.

One way to help is by donating funds to the organization, which can be done at www.Foodbankonline.org, where a “Donate Now” tab is readily visible near the top of the page.

Inman said the amount of food donations the Foodbank is receiving through its grocery retail partners is declining. This was happening pre-COVID-19, but with the pandemic, the supply chain challenges meant the Foodbank had to purchase the fresh produce to stock its 757 Mobile Markets and its Community Produce Hub.

“And while we have much more spending power than you do if you go shopping at your grocery store, it is using a significant part of our budget to purchase those items,” Inman said. “So financial donations, always in need.”

People can also help the Foodbank with donations of time.

“We are an organization that relies on

volunteers,” Inman said, noting that there are only about 60 staff members who are employed by the Foodbank.

The Foodbank serves a 4,745-squaremile footprint.

“You can’t do that with 60 people,” Inman said. “All of our mobile pantries are operated by volunteers. Our Western Tidewater Community Produce Hub is operated by volunteers. Volunteers pack backpacks that get sent home with kids from school for the weekend.

“Every facet of our organization relies on volunteers for food distribution, and

so I would say, if you have some time, whether that’s one hour a week, an hour a month, an hour a year, we can use you at the Foodbank in some capacity.”

People can also donate their voices to the Foodbank and its mission.

“Talk about the issue of hunger and food insecurity on your social media channels,” Inman said. “Engage your friends and family in helping to support the Foodbank and just understanding the issue.”

With all the tremendous negatives brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Inman noted that there was a blessing experienced by the Foodbank.

“Never before really in our history was the attention so vividly driven to the issue of hunger and food insecurity,” she said. “I think people understand now that the face of hunger, it’s not some unknown face or statistic — it could be my next-door neighbor, really, who is experiencing food insecurity. And so talk about the issue. Contact your elected officials, and let them know that it’s an issue.”

She said the Foodbank and its agency network partners need the support.

“I think just having that awareness building always helps us in terms of rec-

Engage your friends and family in helping to support the Foodbank and just understanding the issue.

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ognition of the work that we do and who we’re serving and how that work gets done,” she said.

People can also always donate food to the Foodbank.

“You can donate directly to the Foodbank,” she said. “Happy to have folks swing by and drop off donations of food.”

Lastly, the Foodbank is open to forming new partnerships with organizations. Inman noted that the Foodbank has interest that includes, but is not limited to, forming partnerships with organizations that can offer financial literacy instruction, health care, workforce development, higher education and help to access affordable housing.

Inman indicated there is a “one-stop shop” for those interested in helping the Foodbank.

“The easiest way to register to volunteer or to find out how you can take action from an advocacy perspective or our hours that you can drop by to donate, all of that can be found on our website, which is Foodbankonline.org,” she said. SUBMITTED | FOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA AND THE EASTERN SHORE At work are volunteers for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. The organization relies upon volunteers to serve its 4,745-square-mile footprint.

This photo of The Community Feed at Jordan-Newby in Norfolk represents what people can expect from the “feel” of the Foodbank’s forthcoming Western Tidewater Branch and Community Produce Hub at 618 South St. in Franklin. Volunteers will be needed at that new facility. Volunteers with the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore work at a mobile distribution event.