You may have noticed the shop in Del Ray on the corner of Mt Vernon Ave and Stewart Ave with the community garden. This might not be what you imagine when you think of a food bank, but this storefront is one of ALIVE!’s food hubs offering essential grocery and household items like bread, eggs, meat, produce, and hygiene items to Alexandria families in need.

 

Rates of food insecurity in Alexandria are at historic highs and ALIVE! is providing assistance to roughly 20,000 people each month through food hubs, community pantries throughout the city, and pop-up grocery distributions at recreation centers and schools. The only way ALIVE! has been able to meet this increased level of need is because of the amazing generosity of volunteers, donors, and local businesses who support this vital safety net by giving their time, talent and financial support.

 

Nearly half of all the grocery items that ALIVE! provides comes through donations. From food drives to weekly donations from local grocery stores like Wegmans, Giant, and Amazon Fresh. Each donation helps to lower overall costs so that ALIVE! can purchase fresh foods such as eggs, chicken and halal meat. This ensures a variety of nutritional and culturally appropriate foods are always available.

 

Volunteers play a vital role in this distribution system. This may include working in the Old Town warehouse sorting donations, driving ALIVE!’s delivery trucks, assisting clients at the Del Ray food hub to select the food or directing people to other supportive services. ALIVE!’s online scheduling tool makes it easy to register and reserve a volunteer shift that works for you!

 

Another way to support ALIVE!’s work is to sign up for the StepALIVE! Walkathon on October 20th. This event is in its 43rd year and nearly 450 supporters walked the 5 mile or 5k routes last year. A $25 ticket includes an ALIVE! t-shirt and this event is a terrific way to help alleviate food insecurity and reduce poverty in our city. Learn more about how to get involved with ALIVE! and the upcoming walkathon at: alive-inc.org