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Executive Director's Update
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On July 1st we began our new fiscal year. With your help, this fiscal year we are prepared to serve more families in the western Fairfax community due to the addition of a second client choice food pantry. Already, during the month of June, we served 91 families in the Centreville Client Choice Food Pantry which enabled us to serve 565 families overall, a 20% increase over June 2022. Seventy-eight of these families were new to WFCM's food pantry services!
As you will see from the chart below, we served 4,718 individuals in FY 2023 and provided over 1 million pounds of food to mitigate food insecurity in our community. Unfortunately, the needs exposed during the pandemic are not decreasing but our ability to meet these needs has increased. Thank you for your partnership to make this possible!
On June 26th, we held a small ribbon-cutting ceremony to acknowledge the key partners who donated the initial funds that allowed us to move forward with the Centreville Client Choice Food Pantry. Their partnership, and yours, is critical going forward, to support our operations and serve more families. We are thankful that you understand that donating to WFCM is a good investment. With each $1 donated to support our Centreville operations, we can provide $6 worth of food! (based on an average cost of service of $50 per family for 200 families per month and the average provision of $300 of groceries for a family of 5)
Earlier in June we were honored that Senator Mark Warner and Fairfax County Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith toured our Chantilly Client Choice Food Pantry and warehouse and participated in a roundtable discussion with several of our partners. This visit by Senator Warner was a wonderful opportunity for us to share and show how WFCM used federal funds, granted by Fairfax County Government Neighborhood and Community Services, to renovate our pantry with additional refrigerators, purchase fresh food in bulk and a refrigerated van to pick up and deliver fresh food, and provide the necessary elevated level of rent assistance to keep community members safely housed.
As we concluded FY 23 on June 30th and started this new fiscal year, we examined our processes and made some changes to improve our efficiency and service to clients. Our goal is continual improvement based on feedback to provide the best service possible for our clients. A recent Google 5-star review of our services simply stated, "Excelente Ayuda" translated to "Excellent Help." We strive for every individual/family we serve to feel this way. Thank you for choosing to partner with us to make this goal a reality.
Thank you and God bless,
Harmonie Taddeo, Executive Director
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Photographed above: Partners at roundtable on June 16th including Senator Warner, Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith, WFCM staff and board members, Fairfax County Government Neighborhood and Community Services leaders, Fairfax County Public School Social Workers, and local management from Wegmans and Boys & Girls Club, Ox Hill | |
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June 2023 & Fiscal Year 2023 Service Update
In June, we served 78 new families at our Centreville & Chantilly Client Choice Food Pantries. We served 565 clients in the food pantries overall, an increase of 20% from June 2022. We spent considerable grant funds purchasing fresh food in June for our pantry locations as well as the Free Food Fridge program and are thankful for the grants that allowed us to meet the growing needs as we reach more families struggling with food insecurity.
A new allotment of funding (from federal ARPA program) through the county will provide higher levels of financial assistance beginning in July. We are thankful for our partnership with Fairfax County Government to provide this funding to local families in need of higher levels of rent support to avoid eviction.
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Thanks to a number of grantors, business and congregation partners, and local family donors, we have been able to meet the growing needs over the past three years, serving 36% more people in FY 2023 than in FY 2020. We can only do this with your support and with our dedicated volunteers, who served for 11,290 hours in FY 23. The funds and person hours allowed us to provide over 1 million pounds of food, through our pantries and the Free Food Fridge Program (reaching even more families) and over $2 million in financial assistance. | |
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What's New in the Food Pantry and Client Services with Pamela Montesinos
Director of Client Operations & Programs
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We were excited to open the Centreville Client Choice Food Pantry on June 6th followed by the ribbon cutting on the 26th. During the first month of operations, we served 91 clients towards our goal of reaching and serving 200 new families at this second location.
When we closed out our fiscal year last month, we celebrated the success of three families who graduated from the Pathways to Success program and two who successfully participated in our Mustard Seed Microloan program. Both programs have overall goals for the families to reach earnings above 300% of the federal poverty income guidelines ($90,000 for a family of 4) and no longer need financial and food assistance. To reach this goal we worked with partners including Northern Virginia Family Services, Northwest Federal Credit Union, and Apple Federal Credit Union, as well as several grantors to provide tools, resources, and funds.
We are starting a new session of Pathways to Success (PTS), in Spanish, this fall with grants to serve six families. This program includes monthly classes about budgeting along with one-on-one sessions for each family. The goals for the families include establishing and maintaining emergency savings accounts with $1,000+, working on monthly budgets, and reducing debt.
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Photographed above from left: NWFCU Volunteer, PTS graduates, WFCM Program Manager at PTS graduation // WFCM Director of Client Operations & Programs with one of the Mustard Seed program participants // Centreville Food Pantry | |
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Most needed items in the food pantry this month:
- Fruit Cocktail (no sugar added)
- Canned Pears (no sugar added)
- Canned Mandarin Oranges (no sugar added)
- Flour
- Jelly
- Pasta Sauce
- Boxed Pasta and Canned Pasta
- Ramen Noodle Soup
- Cake Mix and Brownie Mix
- Black Beans, Garbanzo Beans, and Great Northern Beans
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Toiletries: bar soap, body wash, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste (NOTE: we are not currently in need of diapers size 0-4 due to our partnership with Greater DC Diaper Bank. Please only donate larger size pull ups size 4T/5T for toddlers, size 5 or 6 diapers, or baby wipes if you want to donate items for babies.)
As a reminder, we accept food and toiletry donations Monday - Friday 8-10 am at 4511 Daly Drive Suite H (Back Door) and on the second Saturday monthly 9-11 am.
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Community Connections
with Diane Beatley
Sr. Manager, Community Engagement
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Partner Spotlight: United Bank
Thank you to the team at United Bank for renewing their annual sponsorship to support the work of WFCM. A regional bank with 222 full-service banking offices in the mid-Atlantic, United Bank is built on customer service and commitment to the community. We appreciate that one of the ways they choose to show their commitment to the community is through supporting WFCM with operating funds and volunteer service.
Photographed left: WFCM Senior Manager of Community Engagement, Diane, with United Bank AVP/ Centreville Branch Manager, Mike Gullis.
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Pohanka Automotive and Northern Virginia Corvette Club select WFCM as Car Show charity beneficiary
On Sunday, June 4, Pohanka Automotive Group hosted the Northern Virginia Corvette Club’s Annual Corvette Show with donations from the generous participants benefiting WFCM. WFCM staff were invited to peruse the beautiful corvettes and select one as the “Charity Choice” winner. We selected a 1969 gold Corvette and the owner shared that 1969 was the only year Chevrolet made that color Corvette. Thank you to everyone who participated and supported the WFCM mission with a generous donation of $4,500.
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Thank you for a new power pallet jack!
Thank you to the Capital Area Food Bank and the Westfield Business Owners Association for their grants to support the purchase of a power pallet jack for the Chantilly warehouse. The power pallet jack with a lift enables staff and volunteers to load and unload the food intact on pallets. This is particularly helpful when we purchase items such as milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, and mac & cheese in bulk monthly. This new resource means that we no longer have to manually load/unload box by box.
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Save the Date for WFCM’s Annual Fall FUNdraiser!
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Chantilly National Golf & Country Club
5:00 – 7:00 pm
Enjoy appetizers, a gourmet garden buffet, & dessert while participating in our Online Auction. Learn more at wfcmva.org/fall-fundraiser.
Thank you to Event Sponsor Keener Insurance Agency!
Interested in one of the other signature sponsorships? Contact me to discuss the opportunities at dbeatley@wfcmva.org.
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