Pilot program empowers Food Bank partners

On a bright and early winter morning, Tommy Moose pulled his pickup into the receiving area of the local Walmart Supercenter.  As he entered through a side door, a chorus of friendly voices greeted Moose, the board president of the Fredericksburg Food Pantry. For the last six months, Moose has been coming three times a week to pick up food donations from this local store.

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The manager on duty welcomed Moose and led him to today’s food donation. Set aside in a cooler were half a dozen boxes, all filled with multigrain bread, vegetables and several packs of yogurt. Moose was delighted.

“We serve the working class people of Fredericksburg,” Moose said. “They just can’t feed their families. But this is going to help.”

The Fredericksburg Food Pantry is one of 28 Partner Agencies that participate in Retail Pick-up Program. This pilot initiative connects food pantries, soup kitchens and faith-based organizations in the Capital Area Food Bank network to businesses that want to donate to their community. Through donor relationships cultivated by the Food Bank staff, Partner Agencies directly receive donations of perishable food, like fresh vegetables, dairy products and bakery items.

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This efficient initiative not only results in more fresh food for the families we serve, but allows the Food Bank’s food rescue network to grow without straining limited staff and transportation resources. Since the program began in 2013, the Retail Pick-up Program has rescued 2.4 million pounds of food.

Most importantly, the Retail Pick-up Program empowers Food Bank Partner Agencies to provide fresh and healthy food to the families they serve. This nutritious food makes it possible for the Fredericksburg Food Pantry to serve over 1,300 people every month.

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“The food helps a lot,” said Francisco, a client of the Fredericksburg Food Pantry.

Born and raised in Fredericksburg, Francisco is proud of all the local businesses he has worked for, including the famous wildflower nursery and a log cabin builder. But right now, he is focused on caring for his mother, who has had bad health recently. The family began receiving groceries from the Fredericksburg Food Pantry when Francisco needed to stretch his paycheck to cover bills and his mother’s rising medical expenses.

“Without this help, I wouldn’t be able to take care of her,” Francisco explained. “I don’t know what we would do.”

Read the current issue of Feedback to learn more about the Food Bank's innovative approach to hunger relief.