A Visit from Feeding Southwest Virginia

For our November monthly social hour and charity contribution, we had two very special visitors from Feeding Southwest Virginia (FSWVA) lead a presentation on the important work they are doing to keep families fed in 26 counties across Virginia.

Lisa Claytor, Chief Development Officer, and Joseph Kessler, Director of Corporate Relations, joined us to introduce the organization and the work they do. Feeding Southwest Virginia is a nonprofit organization and an affiliate of Feeding America.  They serve 26 counties and 9 cities in Virginia, covering a total of 124,000 square miles of land.

First Lisa and Joseph taught us about the challenges of establishing food security for Southwest Virginians.  We learned that 14% of the population faces food insecurity in this area of Viriginia.  That’s 40% higher than the national average, and that number is even higher for children—just over 18% of kids face food insecurity in these 26 counties.  The cause of this problem is two-fold; many of the long-standing manufacturing and extraction jobs in this area no longer exist, and the rural, spread-out nature of Appalachia poses a unique challenge when distributing food as well.

Thankfully, FSWVA is doing a lot to help these families in need.  Through their Mobile Food Pantries, Feeding Kitchens, Mobile Marketplace, and Café to Grow Program, they deliver nutritious food to over 105,000 people a month.  Last year they distributed over $32 million worth of food, which is almost 22 million pounds of food.  Lisa and Joseph shared that for every $1 they receive, they can supply a family with about 5 meals. Coupled with the fact that 96% of all their donations go directly to programming, the donations they receive go a long way to address food insecurity for the people in Southwest Virginia.  That is why Humble Crew is proud to have donated $1,000 to FSWVA to help support and feed their community.

Humble Crew sincerely appreciated this visit and presentation—the opportunity to learn about and support their organization was especially meaningful while the holiday season is in full swing. We wish Feeding Southwest Virginia all the best as they continue to help families in need!

If you would like to learn more about FSWVA, please visit: https://www.feedingswva.org/