The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank said the annual Scouting for Food campaign, which occurred over two Saturdays in November, was a major success.
The numbers were especially heartening for the food bank, which has been struggling to keep pace with demand in recent years.
The Food Bank reports that Boy Scouts from the Shenandoah and Virginia Headwaters councils collected 39,636 pounds of food and $3,815 in donations.
The scouts distributed door hangers in neighborhoods on Nov. 2 and returned a week later to collect donations. The donations were then delivered to the food bank.
The Verona-based Blue Ridge Area Food Bank serves the counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Greene, Highland, Loudoun, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Page, Rappahannock, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren, as well as the cities of Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester.
In recent years, the food bank has struggled to keep pace with demand, with homelessness on the rise and much of Virginia suffering from an affordable housing crisis. CEO Michael McKee previously told The News Virginian the nonprofit organization has seen a 40% spike in demand over prepandemic figures.
“We are deeply grateful to the Scouts, their families, and the community for their generosity and their dedication to helping people,” Livia Marrs, volunteer and food drive manager at the food bank, said in a statement. “The Scouting for Food drive is a testament to the power of collective action, helping us solve hunger every day.”
Since its inception in 1985, the Scouting for Food campaign has contributed nearly 1 million pounds of food alongside cash donations.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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