Stafford Food Pantry SERVE in "Dire Need" of Food and Funds
Federal funding loss could affect pantry's operations.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
SERVE, the region’s oldest and largest food pantry, is in “dire need” of both shelf stable food and funds to support its operations.
“It really is a call out for help,” said Lee Cheney, the nonprofit’s executive director, this week.
If the pantry’s shelves remain in the condition they are— “they’re not bare, but they’re getting there”—the organization may be at risk of having to scale back its services to the community, Cheney said.
The organization, which is part of the Feeding America network, was founded in 1979 and last year reached a “bittersweet” milestone—delivering more than 1 million pounds of food and providing assistance to 55,000 individuals in its service area, which includes Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Fredericksburg, and parts of Prince William.
“It’s phenomenal that we have been able to get the support to build the capacity [to distribute that much food],” Cheney said. “But no food pantry, unless in an urban area, should be putting out over 1 million pounds of food. That screams that there are people in this community that need help, and if places like SERVE close, what is going to happen to them?”
Not only is the organization seeing levels of need that aren’t decreasing, it is entering a new fiscal year facing the loss of a funding stream from the federal government. In addition to donations from local government, individuals, civic and faith groups, and businesses, SERVE’s work has been supported by $350,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance program—a program which the USDA announced in March would be eliminated, along with the Local Food for Schools program.
Cheney said SERVE used that LFAP funding to partner with 12 local minority- and veteran-owned small farms to purchase fresh produce, meat, dairy, and grains for the pantry.
In recent years, she said, the organization has adopted the mindset that “food is medicine,” and being able to provide fresh, locally produced food is part of that mission.
Of the 1 million pounds of food distributed last year, 53% of it was fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, and grains, Cheney said.
Also as part of the “food as medicine” vision, SERVE (an acronym for Stafford Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts) partners with healthcare providers affiliated with Mary Washington Healthcare and INOVA. These providers can write prescriptions for food for patients with dietary requirements that their budgets can’t support.
“The doctor can say, ‘Here, I’m writing you a prescription, go to SERVE and they will provide all your fresh produce, grains, dairy, and meats,’” Cheney said.
Cheney said she’s still hopeful that the USDA will restore funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, but noted that usually, the government releases requests for proposals for LFPA funding in May—and towards the end of July, none have been released.
SERVE’s food pantry is open daily Monday through Thursday. Individuals can come in twice a month to “shop” for whatever food they need to supplement what they can get at the grocery store with SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) dollars. They can also pick up items such as pet food and toiletries that aren’t covered by SNAP, Cheney said.
The organization also operates a mobile produce market twice a month at Stafford Hospital.
Continuing to provide all these services in the current “uncertain times” is “very daunting,” Cheney said.
“Right now, our biggest needs are food and funds,” she said. “Shelf-stable food, and funds in any increment to go towards proucement, to backfill the dollars we have lost.”
Make a monetary donation to SERVE here, or drop off shelf-stable pantry items at 15 Upton Lane, Stafford.
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