Today marks a year since the state and local COVID shutdowns began - and what a year it's been! Since launching our COVID-19 emergency response on March 12, 2020, Loudoun Hunger Relief has:
- Increased our food distribution from serving an average of 250 families/week pre-COVID to an average of 850-900 families/week. In 2021, we are averaging 917/week.
- Distributed more than 2.6 million pounds of food, a 150% increase over 2019
- Created new partnerships and expanded food distribution across the County, increasing our service instances 522% from 68,000 to 355,000.
- Identified new food sources and maintained our commitment to providing nutritious fresh food - always having milk, eggs, meat and produce to give to families.
- Increased work and storage capacity by purchasing forklifts, a new refrigerated box truck and van as well as other needed equipment to move food quickly and efficiently. We've also rented a 53" refrigerated trailer for cold storage and are utilizing additional offsite warehouse space.
- Purchased a large amount of food to augment what is being donated. Our food purchasing budget catapulted from around $70,000 in 2019 to around $1,000,000 in 2020.
What's Next?
As we mark this day, we are also looking forward with great hope. We are encouraged by gradual reopening, and the anticipation of widespread vaccinations. We are planning for the future with the experiences of the past year to guide us. We also know that some of the first people to lose employment were our lower income, hourly wage neighbors and they will be some of the last to regain it. We stand ready to serve at this level for the next eighteen months or more, especially with your continued support.
