CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A longtime staple in the Chesterfield community is asking for donations and volunteers ahead of their last food distribution day of 2022.
The Chesterfield Food Bank (CFB) will host a special distribution event at their Iron Bridge Road location in Chester on Friday, December 23 before they close for maintenance.
CFB Assistant Executive Director Nick Jenkins told the CBS 6 Problem Solvers the nonprofit fed 8,000 to 10,000 people each month prior to the pandemic.
Now, it’s not unusual for 30,000 to 40,000 people each month to ask for assistance. Jenkins said the food bank is also experiencing a 40% to 50% drop in donations due to high inflation.
Jenkins brought his son to a Friday distribution and taught him about food insecurity. Distributions begin at 4:30 p.m., and some families line up hours early.
“We were walking through the back parking lot and he said, 'Dad, how come how come these cars are out here already lined up?’” Jenkins recalled.
Those cars were lined up at 11 a.m.
“I explained to him because they are here for the distribution and he questioned the time and that offered us an opportunity to talk about what food insecurity really looks like and what people are doing to make sure that they don't go hungry,” he said.
His volunteers thought demand would go down following the height of the pandemic, yet many families are still struggling during the financial crisis.
“I feel like we shouldn't have to see the amount of people in need and see the desperation. You can observe that desperation in their actions and seeing that people come out here and sit for hours on end to get a cart of groceries just so that they don't have to go hungry,” Jenkins said.
CFB is looking for monetary and food donations in addition to volunteers. If you’d like to help visittheir website.
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