COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- With the holiday season upon us, there are many who are struggling to find enough food for themselves and their families. The Colonial Heights Food Pantry has seen major increases this year and even more so right now.
"The need is increasing and we’re prepared to give it out," Warren Hammonds, the Executive Director of the Colonial Heights Food Pantry, said.
Hammonds said a team of volunteers is preparing for this week's distribution.
"We are planning to feed about 175 to 180 Families this week," Hammonds said.
According to Hammonds, the volunteers know the need now is greater than it was at the beginning of the year.
"We see an increase every single month for the last three months, in particular, and pretty much every single week of those months," Hammonds said.
Hammonds said part of the increase is with new families. He added that the numbers for new families are staggering.
"These are new families who never thought before they would be in the world of hunger relief," Hammonds said. "We used to see five to eight of those every month and now we're seeing five to eight of those every single week. We will serve over 250 new families this year."
Hammonds said the food pantry can act as a resource for any family who is grocery shopping nowadays amid high prices.
"For us, it means we'll have to be more diligent and more cost-efficient with what we do choose to purchase. If it wasn't for Food More providing us with produce at 5,000 pounds this week at two cents a pound, we couldn't buy the produce," Hammonds said.
Another group whose numbers are increasing at the food pantry are those who are living in hotels.
"We did make the decision to expand formally to anyone in a hotel this year. If they are within this vicinity, who cares about their address?"
During the holiday season, another source that helps the food pantry stretch its dollars comes from local food drives.
"Incredible because we couldn't buy all of this stuff that you see right in front of us. We depend on the food drives to do that," Hammonds said.
The Colonial Heights Food Pantry is always looking for donations and this time of year, canned goods like green beans and corn are essential. However, Hammonds added that they are also in desperate need of canned fruits.
Hammonds said they are always looking for quality volunteers. For more information, you can visit the food pantry at 530 Southpark Boulevard or call them at (804) 520-7117.
