RICHMOND, Va. -- A group dedicated to giving back to those in need is hosting a cookout catered to their community. Being held by the nonprofit, Feed the Streets RVA, the event will have free food, music, and giveaways for anyone in attendance.
"We’re going to have several bounce houses arts and crafts...some exhibition games, some professional athletes coming out," said Cory Jones with Feed the Streets. "We’re also going to have food trucks lined up on this street and will have food for the first 300 guests."
It's happening this Saturday at the corner of Clay Street and Brook Road and will be the first cookout the non-profit is hosting since the pandemic.
"When you think of a cookout or a backyard BBQ, family comes together everybody brings something, everybody chips in and it's always good vibes, good energy but we want to do this for the community," Jones said.
"A day when they can just have fun and enjoy themselves with the family but also get things that you need and learn about who’s in the community," Jones said describing the many Richmond resources that will be there.
The event is also providing free haircuts, clothes, canned goods, and hygiene products.
"We’re going to have a free community closet where they can shop, get clothes, get free haircuts, styles, kids everyone, anyone," Jones said. "We’ll also have food on site, Nonperishable, those hygiene items will be essential to them they can take what they need."
On top of giving away items, the group is also collecting donations. "This year we're going to have drop-off bins on site and we’re collecting nonperishable food items and hygiene essentials," Jones said.
The non-profit is also looking for volunteers, specifically to help set up. "The more the merrier, we're open to everyone, we want this to truly be a community experience so anyone who wants to get involved, come out," he explained.
Jones said events like these are important to revitalizing our community and hopes to see more of them in the future.
"We’ve learned that the poverty rate in the city of Richmond is about 25% so that's one out of every four people," Jones said. "A lot of people see poverty as homelessness but there’s a lot of single mothers and fathers, families who may have a house with no lights on, no food in the kitchen walking around every day with a smile on the face but going home to struggle."
With their last event seeing over 3500 people, Jones said he’s hoping to see even more of the community on Saturday. "Someone has to see you, we want to be the organization to say hey we see you, we here for you were there for you, it's no ego no pride, we’re not going to expose it, we’re not doing this for the attention we’re just here to be there and a helping hand for you," he said.
Again, the event is happening this Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. and they are giving away and collecting nonperishable food items as well as hygiene products. For more information, you can visit their website.
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