Feeding Southwest Virginia
As an elected representative from our part of Virginia, I see various local organizations receive recognition and praise for their efforts in improving the care and health of our rural communities.
Food City, in partnership with the nonprofit United Way, has welcomed me on multiple occasions for their celebrity food bagging event. Most recently, I was a celebrity bagger at the Food City in Weber City.
This September, one nonprofit group will celebrate its progress in caring for our region.
Feeding Southwest Virginia, a part of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, was founded in 1981 to address food insecurity in the region.
Food insecurity is a problem in large parts of the country, including Southwest, Southside and Central Virginia.
Some families are stuck deciding whether they can afford groceries as they balance between their power bills, what they pay at the gas pump and other expenses.
And when food options are explored, nourishing and nutritious meals are sacrificed for cheaper and more inexpensive goods.
This continuous cycle of inadequate eating habits leads to problematic health conditions, such as diabetes.
Children who grow up in the region who do not receive sufficient food are seriously affected.
Feeding Southwest Virginia reports that one in five children suffer from food insecurity.
Lack of access to quality nutritious foods creates harsh realities for children. Many can be afflicted by malnutrition disorders during critical years of brain development. This is true even if they have some food but it’s not nutritious.
Many families depend on school lunches to provide for their kids, but such opportunities are limited during the summer months when school is out.
Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, who represents East Tennessee, and I were recognized in 2023 for our help in passing a law to make it easier for community partners such as Feeding Southwest Virginia to provide meals to families and children in the summertime. Before the bill, summer food programs could only provide meals at congregate sites with supervision while the children ate. Now, Feeding Southwest Virginia can take the meals to the congregate sites, and the children can pick them up. This allows the nonprofit to take the meals to more locations.
While it is the largest food agency in the region, Feeding Southwest Virginia is not the only group trying to solve food insecurity. Many churches, community food pantries and some of our hospitals do their part to provide food for their communities.
These smaller outlets also collect food, but many receive food from Feeding Southwest Virginia.
For a time, Feeding Southwest Virginia was not their official name. They were simply known as Feeding America because they are a member of the national Feeding America organization.
But going by Feeding America caused trouble when the Southwest Virginia group raised funds.
Many donors who sought to contribute to solve food insecurity in Southwest Virginia mistakenly sent money to the Feeding America corporate office, when they really meant to give money to the Feeding America Southwest Virginia office!
According to one official from Feeding Southwest Virginia, it is estimated that Feeding Southwest Virginia lost out on roughly $100,000 in contributions.
Because of this confusion, funds were erroneously directed away from Feeding Southwest Virginia. Accordingly, in early 2020, the nonprofit officially changed their name to Feeding Southwest Virginia to lessen confusion and make it easier to fundraise and solicit donations specifically for our region.
Feeding Southwest Virginia is dedicated to fighting hunger and changing lives. Their operations involve volunteers helping at food drives, packing and delivering food, and their services extend to every locality in Virginia’s Ninth District.
Of Feeding Southwest Virginia’s three facilities, one of them is in Abingdon. The other two are in Salem and Roanoke.
In the past, I have volunteered and visited their facilities in Salem or Abingdon.
Feeding Southwest Virginia’s fiscal year 2022 impact report highlights their distribution of over 18 million pounds in food, not including non-food items like water.
The same report noted that in the summer of 2023 they served over 160,000 meals to children.
On September 13th, I will be attending their Elected Officials’ Day event to honor their work in addressing hunger and starvation in our region.
Local, state and federal officials all attend to show their support for the programs advanced by Feeding Southwest Virginia.
Like elected officials from both sides of the political aisle, I am proud to support Feeding Southwest Virginia.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
