Hunger Awareness Week in Goochland
April 26 – May 3, 2014
Hunger does not take a vacation, yet food pantries’ shelves are fairly empty at this time of year and even more so in the summer months. Seeing the need to feed over 1800 food-insecure Goochland residents, local food pantries are working together to launch a community-wide food drive. “Hunger Hurts. Goochland Gathers” runs Saturday, April 26 through Saturday, May 3, 2014. Nearly 75% of Goochland families in need, including nearly 500 children, often skip meals or eat less because of a lack of food. The Federation of Virginia Food Banks considers Western Goochland County to be a ‘food desert’ – an area where populations live more than 10 miles from a supermarket or large grocery store if in a rural area (Ver Ploeg et al. 2012). Please join your neighbors in collecting food for Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services food pantry. You can also support St. Matthews Church’s Neighbors Food Pantry and Victory Christian Church’s Harvest Food Pantry. The goal is to collect 40,000 pounds of food that will help feed Goochland’s hungry. Please bring donations to the Goochland Family Services building located at 3001 River Road West (in the Goochland Courthouse area) anytime Monday through Thursday between 9am and 4pm, Friday from 9am to 3pm or on Saturday, May 3rd, between 9am and 3pm. For more information, please contact: Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services 804-556-6260 Terry Smith at tsmith@co.goochland.va.us Anne Pryor at apryor@co.goochland.va.us