CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- The Virginia Peninsula Food Bank in Hampton posted heartbreaking pictures of empty shelves this week, urging the community to come to the rescue of hungry families.
We checked to see if local food banks were experiencing similar issues.
We visited the Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center in Chester, just before they began their Friday evening distribution.
Assistant Executive Director Nick Jenkins said the images from the Hampton food bank are heart-wrenching, but he says every food bank could see empty shelves themselves because the community needs are so great.
“We’re getting ready for a distribution tonight,” Jenkins said. “We have another one tomorrow and another on Monday. That means the racks in here, the walk-in coolers, they’re going to be empty. And we see this in food banks across Virginia right now. Without the community’s support, whether it be through monetary donations or food donations, without being able to replenish our supplies, the following Saturday distributions, we’re going to feel that pressure.”
Jenkins says the number of families who rely on the Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center has grown, which makes their work that much harder.
"As the community feels that pressure, that financial pressure, we feel the donations decrease here,” said Jenkins. “Those who want to give don't have it to give. That means we need people to be aware of the need. Not just their own, but the needs that go beyond their own, to the neighbor’s. They may not be hungry, but their neighbor is. But if we can come together, we can really see this problem overcome."
Jenkins says Chesterfield has always come through every challenge whether it was Covid or rising prices.
Click here if you would like to donate to the Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center.
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