Feeding Greene - The Food Pantry of Greene County

Our client choice program is open every tuesday, thursday, and saturday from 9am to 12noon and on wednesdays from 4:30pm to 6pm and offers free usda Food, and purchased and donated produce, breads, and other perishables once a week to qualified families residing in Virginia. Eligibility for usda Food is based on The emergency Food assistance program (tefap) guidelines and is based on income. Families choose from an assortment of canned foods, dry goods, cereal, peanut butter, produce, beverages, frozen meats, fresh milk, dairy products, breads, and pastries. We have an average of 143 volunteers per month working an average of 2,026 hours per month picking up, receiving, sorting, stocking and distributing Food. With The help of these dedicated volunteers in 2023 we were able to distribute 946,035 pounds of Food at a value of $1,825,847. This includes usda, purchased, and donated Food from blue ridge area Food bank, Food from 8 area brafb partners, Food from churches, businesses, civic groups, and individuals in our community, as well as Food purchased from brafb and local grocery stores. Food is valued at $1.93 per pound and is based on Feeding america's 2023 independent audit. We received 18,722 visits and served 52,422 individuals in 2023 (15,140 children, 23,951 adults, and 13,331 elderly.) Each individual is counted each time their family comes in for assistance in accordance with usda reporting standards. We offer full client choice shopping, allowing families to do their own shopping much like in a normal grocery store.

Our backpack program is in our third year and is designed to meet The needs of childrn in our local school systems. Covid brought a lot of attention to The increased need for Food that many families with children were experiencing. As a result of our economy, more and more families with children are still struggling. This program provides kid-friendly Food for children to make their own meals over The weekend. This program runs during The school year with The help of about 20 volunteers each month, many of whom are also students. With The help of these dedicated volunteers in 2023 we were able to distribute 25,188 pounds of Food at a value of $48,613. This includes poundage from summer kid boxes from blue ridge area Food bank. We estimate an average of 10 volunteers/month went towards this program in 2023. We provided 4,198 backpacks to children at 7 different locations in Greene County. This program is needs-based with local schools determining The need and all Food is either purchased or donated to us by our community.

Our home delivery program provides Food to families with no transportation (and often disabilities) on The first and third wednesday of each month. We deliver pre-boxed groceries to families in Greene County, often filling boxes to meet specific dietary needs. These families also qualify by income for tefap Food and we often purchase low sugar and low sodium foods, as well as fresh produce for this program. We currently have 16 delivery routes with volunteers ranging from young adults to our retired community. We also receive help with deliveries from our local jaunt transit system. With The help of these dedicated volunteers, in 2023 we were able to distribute 175,800 pounds of Food at a value of $339,294. We estimate an average of 30 volunteers/month goes towards this program. We made 1,467 home deliveries to families in Greene County in 2023. We continue to provide groceries to families that are sick or recovering from surgeries/injuries and unable to leave their homes. We work closely with The Greene County department of social services to see that families have enough Food each month. This is a program that we've offered for our entire 29 years in operation and continues to be a great service to our community.