Blue Ridge Area Food Bank brings in 115,019 pounds of food during annual food drive

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has released numbers for how many pounds of food it brought in this year through an annual food drive event.

“We know that there’s a great need out there, and we want to meet that need with everyone we can,” BRAFB Communications Manager Lee Sinclair said. “The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is an annual event that happens around the country, and we at the Blue Ridge area food bank, were the recipient of it locally.”

Sinclair says they have a lot of work ahead of them to turn donations around for the people who need them.

“This year, we brought in 115,019 pounds of food, which is over 95,000 meals, Sinclair said. “It is a little bit of an increase over last year, which is a positive thing, and those meals, that food will come into our warehouse, and then it goes right back out right here into our community.”

Sinclair says those numbers are impressive, but that the BRAFB is always looking for more ways to help those struggling with food insecurity.

“We know that there are certain things that are barriers to people coming to a food pantry or a food bank, and those include transportation, there’s a stigma, and there might be language barriers as well. We want to make sure that here at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, that we try to remove those barriers as we find them,” Sinclair said.

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