Dozens of volunteers gathered in Herndon last Thursday (June 18) to distribute thousands of pounds worth of food and hygiene items to combat food insecurity.
Volunteers at the fifth annual Resource Rally — hosted by Reston-based StarKist, the nonprofits Feed the Children and Cornerstones, and Floris United Methodist Church — loaded boxes for about 400 families, curbside pickup-style, who drove up to the Herndon church.
“It’s especially important right now,” said Bill Threlkeld, Cornerstones vice president of community resource partnerships. “There’s a lot going on at a national scale. It trickles down the state, it trickles down to a local level … just general affordability of life, like housing and food and child care and health care.”
“Some folks are having a harder time retaining the benefits they’ve had in the past, perhaps because of their legal status or tighter rules or changing rules,” added Threlkeld, who’s worked at the nonprofit for over two decades. “So, it’s a tough time for many more people.”
The day began with remarks from local elected officials, including state Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-38) and Stella Pekarsky (D-36), Del. Holly Seibold (D-12), Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D-7), as well as Fairfax County supervisors Jeff McKay, Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill), and Jimmy Bierman (Dranesville).
“So many of our kids, they go to school to be educated, but part of that education is making sure they get fed through our Fairfax County public school system throughout the school day,” McKay told volunteers. “And when summer hits, there’s a lot of worry about the health and nutrition of our kids through the summer period of time. So, this is timely.”
Debby Cali, Floris UMC’s director of Serve and Connections, told FFXnow that the distribution event has been held at the church for the last few years. The church helps get the word out through its existing programs that distribute meals for students at three local elementary schools to take home on the weekends, she said.
While the church has been working on logistics for the rally since the winter, Cali never has any trouble finding volunteers.
“I put up a Sign-up Genius for 10 people to do parked cars, and 10 people to volunteer to be hospitable, and it was filled within five minutes,” she said.
As cars streamed onto the church’s campus at 13600 Frying Pan Road, volunteers divvied up into groups: some to direct traffic, others to distribute the 25-pound boxes of shelf-stable food and 15-pound boxes of household essentials into the backseats and trunks as two lines of cars passed through.
“It’s been a blessing,” P.J. Yoo, a StarKist employee, said as he took a momentary break from loading boxes. “It’s nice to support the community that we’re in, and especially, the biggest thing is trying to provide smiles to the kids and families.”
