RICHMOND, Va. — Feed More's Community Kitchen produces up to 2,000 meals daily, primarily for Meals on Wheels recipients, with volunteers finding meaning in their service to the community.
The gleaming facility is staffed by dozens of volunteers who form an assembly line that produces meals which benefit both recipients and the volunteers themselves.
"After I retired, I wanted to do something meaningful, and I know that feeding people is the most basic human need that you have," volunteer Brenda Johnson said. "So this was a natural place for me to come."
'Meaning' is a theme you'll hear often among the several dozen volunteers making this kitchen hum.
"It's a way of me giving back to the community, and that's a passion of mine," volunteer Kimberly Brown said. "You know, whether it's doing this or out on the street, giving food back to the community."
"I like packaging food, and I like knowing I'm contributing so and if I wasn't here, my wife would think of something else for me to be doing. This in much better. This couldn't be any worse than that," volunteer David Agee said, smiling.
Each day, five days a week, up to 2,000 meals roll off the line.
The majority are destined for the Meals on Wheels program, serving seniors and those with disabilities who might not be able to access or purchase food to cook.
The recipients of these meals are all around us, according to volunteers.
"I have a neighbor across the street who we helped get signed up when he when we discovered he would run out of money before the end of the month, and he didn't have anything to eat," said Agee.
Agee says the need is all around, but requires both awareness and willingness to act and that building a caring community requires more than just financial contributions.
"It's not all about sitting down, writing a check. You get in there and you contribute," said Agee. "And there are lots of little things you can do. I mean, this is just one of them, but it probably impacts more people than you can imagine."
They might have found job satisfaction in a previous career, but the Feed More volunteers say the sense of community they feel has them coming back day after day.
"It's a great place to be when you retire," said Johnson. "It's a great place to keep relevant and keep you moving," said Johnson.
"You're still contributing," Agee said. "Somebody gets to eat because you showed up today."
For the month of March, Feed More's Community Kitchen produced over 40,000 meals, an impressive achievement for this dedicated volunteer group.
To help fight food insecurity in our community, CBS 6 teamed up with Puritan Cleaners to collect food and funds for Feed More's annual 100K Meals campaign.
Feed More provides hunger relief across 34 Central Virginia cities and counties, distributing more than 35 million pounds of nutritious food to neighbors in need.
With the help of CBS 6 viewers, 152,000 meals were raised on Thursday. But it's not too late to help out! Every $1 donated through Saturday helps provide four meals to people in need. Click here to donate to the campaign.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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