Community food drive to be held Saturday

A statewide community food drive Saturday hopes to fill the shelves of local food pantries to help hungry Virginians eat.

AARP Virginia and Ruritans are sponsoring the food drive at three locations in the Danville area to boost food supplies that often run low during the summer months.

Food will be collected at God’s Storehouse, the Ruritan Club Building in Cascade and Faith and Deliverance Church on Franklin Turnpike.

The need to help the hungry in the area continues to grow.

August was the busiest month of the year for God’s Storehouse, a local food pantry, according to Becky Wales, executive director.

“We served 2,331 boxes of food and 145 new families during the month,” she said. “We continue to see increased numbers of people needing help — people who are out of work, seniors on a fixed income and people who have had their hours cut at work.”

She said the organization is at a “critical point” of needing food donations to be able to continue to serve the hungry.

Even the USDA food supplies have been lower in the past few months.

“Only so much money is budgeted for USDA commodities, and it’s based on the unemployment rates in the states. Overall, the Commonwealth of Virginia has a low unemployment rate, but that doesn’t take into account the local unemployment rate, so we don’t get as much as, say, Michigan, whose state unemployment rate is high,” Wales explained. “So that’s one reason we’re struggling.”

The Faith and Deliverance Outreach Food Bank also works hard to have enough food to feed the 100 families it helps every month.

“We distribute food every third Saturday and help between 300 and 400 individuals every month,” said Annie Barksdale, the founder of the pantry. “We struggle to keep the shelves filled.”

They receive food from Feeding America Southwest Virginia and donations and are an Angel Food Ministries ordering and pickup site.

Barksdale said this is the first year their food pantry has been helped by the AARP/Ruritan food drive.

“I didn’t even know about it, but when they called, I was more than willing to open my doors,” Barksdale said.

Opportunity to help

“AARP is calling upon our one million members in Virginia to help replenish emergency food banks across the commonwealth,” said AARP Virginia State Director Bill Kallio in a news release. “Virginia food banks provide valuable assistance to people in need right in your community.”

People are urged to fill a bag with non-perishable items and take them to one of the drop-off sites. Items most needed include peanut butter, chunky soups, canned meats, canned tuna, canned vegetables, crackers, hot and cold cereal, pasta, rice and canned fruit, according to the release. Do not bring any food in glass containers.

Want to help?

Locations accepting food donations:

• Cascade Ruritan Club: Ruritan Club Building, 3527 Huntington Trail, Cascade from 9 a.m. to noon
• God’s Storehouse: 778 Westover Drive from 10 a.m. to noon
• Faith and Deliverance Church: 14148 Franklin Turnpike, Dry Fork from 9 a.m. to noon