WAVY: Local food bank in need of more donations to reach campaign goal
The campaign challenges local businesses to collect as much money and food donations as they can to help fight hunger.
10 On Your Side told you last month the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore wanted to collect enough to provide 180,000 meals to children this summer.
And the Foodbank’s CEO says they met that goal.
“We’re at 100 percent of our initial goal and we are extremely thrilled about that,” said CEO Ruth Jones Nichols.
She says they couldn’t have done it without a big contribution from Armada Hoffler Properties, which donated $60,000 to their cause.
“We have to get these kids fed and we felt like we needed to do something and do it quickly and hopefully encourage others to do the same,” said Armada Hoffler Properties CEO Lou Haddad.
While Jones Nichols says they are proud to meet their original goal, the recent closings of Farm Fresh stores put them in a bind.
“Each year Farm Fresh donated 1.5 million pounds of food, and for us, that allowed us to donate a significant amount of meals,” she said.
Now with a little more than a week left in their campaign, Jones Nichols says they need to add another 312,000 meals to their original goal to fill the gap.
“Losing Farm Fresh could mean there will be families who are already struggling to put food on the table to struggle that much more because we aren’t able to assist them,” said Jones Nichols.
Lou Haddad says he hopes his company’s donation will motivate others to donate to such an important cause.
“This is where we live, this is where we need to take care of each other, and this is an immediate need that needs to be filled or there’s going to be real world consequences for these children,” said Haddad.
The campaign will end June 9.
This article was written and published by WAVY: http://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/local-food-bank-in-need-of-more-donations-to-reach-campaign-goal/1211506038