After facing financial uncertainty last year, the Patrick County Food Bank is on firmer footing thanks to community donations and grant funding.
Rhonda Pruitt, president of the organization, said support from residents, businesses and churches has helped stabilize the food bank while volunteers continue seeking additional grants.
“We have one volunteer who is working on getting us some grants and stuff like that, which is where the AEP (Appalachian Power) grant came from. We also just got a small grant from Food Lion, so every little bit helps because we all know the rising cost of food is not helping,” she said.
The food bank recently received a $2,500 donation from Walmart during the retailer’s 20th anniversary celebration in Stuart and $1,000 from Woolwine Elementary School.
“Their girls did a beauty pageant, and they sold raffle tickets. Half of it went to the Food Bank and the other half went to the schools, so we received $1,000 from them,” Pruitt said.
The organization also collected canned goods from local post offices participating in the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
“It was a really good effort from our community in general to give,” she said.
In addition, Appalachian Power awarded the food bank a $10,000 grant to purchase a freezer for food storage.
Volunteers also have been visiting local businesses to seek donations.
“That has worked to an extent, but not what we expected,” Pruitt said.
She said local churches have also increased their financial support.
“We started receiving from a few more area churches, which is always great to get the churches involved. We are really hoping to continue to receive from all the churches,” she said.
Although the food bank’s financial outlook has improved, Pruitt said the organization continues to monitor its budget closely.
“I said back in December we’d see how far we could go, reevaluate in June. We are in a pretty good place right now. I don’t think we would have enough to go through December, but we just take it month by month and see what happens,” she said.
The food bank distributes nearly 400 food boxes each month. Pruitt said demand typically eases during the summer as gardens begin producing and some families receive additional food assistance while school is out.
“That’s normal except for November and December. We are always higher in November and December. You’ve got people that are getting their regular food stamps now, plus some boxes that come in the summer to the people with children in schools, and you’ve got people who can get their garden food out, cook it, so they may not need what we would provide. So yeah, things slow down a little bit in the summer,” she said.
The organization spends between $7,000 and $10,000 each month on food.
“That’s a lot of money,” Pruitt said.
The food bank is also looking for someone to build a website that would allow supporters to donate online.
“We don’t want anything great, we just want something that is there so we can accept donations online,” she said.
Monetary donations may be mailed to Patrick County Food Bank, P.O. Box 1304, Stuart, VA 24171.
To donate food or volunteer, contact Pruitt at 276-694-6300 or 276-806-4152, or email PatrickCountyFoodBank@gmail.com. More information is available on the Patrick County Food Bank’s Facebook page.
