13,081 pounds of food distributed

Last week, the City of Newport News and the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority partnered with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank at Ridley Place to distribute food from the Mobile Food Pantry. The Mobile Food Pantry Program allows the Foodbank to directly deliver and distribute fresh, healthy food to communities in need. Neighborhoods are selected based on the number of local children who qualify for free lunch at school. This was the second distribution at Ridley Place over the past month.

According to the Foodbank, a total of 13,081 pounds of food was distributed. The Foodbank converts pounds to meals, which means enough food was distributed to prepare 10,901 meals. The food served 181 households and included 361 children. Based on average household size, each home received close to one week’s worth of groceries. This is just a dent in the food insecurity levels faced by this neighborhood.

The Newport News Choice Neighborhoods Initiative planning team is supporting the Foodbank’s service to Ridley Place and the surrounding area as part of the City’s ongoing commitment to transforming that neighborhood. Choice Neighborhoods brings together public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals to develop solutions that reshape the community. Improving access to healthy food and the overall health of the community is a focus for the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood.

The Foodbank brought volunteers from the U.S. Air Force and CarMax, who were joined by volunteers from several city departments and the Sheriff’s Office. Volunteers helped unload the food trucks, set up the distribution site, distributed food items, and carried groceries for those who needed an extra hand.

Doris Miller Community Center supported the event by providing tables and tents, and Jim’s Local Market allowed the group to borrow shopping carts making it easier for volunteers to help residents get food items back to their houses.