Capital Area Food Bank COO Mark McCaffrey was featured at the Feds Feed Families “Cover the Map” rally on Aug. 15 at the Department of Defense – last year’s winner of the government-wide summer food drive by raising 2 million pounds of food nationally and exceeding its goal by more than 1 million pounds of donated goods.
After congratulating DoD on its outstanding campaign against hunger, McCaffrey said, “We are facing a hunger crisis in our region and nationally. The Capital Area Food Bank has identified more than 680,000 individuals – including 200,000 children – who are at risk of hunger in the region we serve – Northern Virginia; Washington, DC; and suburban Maryland.”
For the fourth year in a row, the Capital Area Food Bank is the local recipient of the Feds Feed Families food drive. Last year the food bank received over 500,000 pounds of food from the overall campaign which raised 5 million nationally.
McCaffrey pointed out, “The need for food even extends to military families in the region. For example, when we sent a mobile food pantry to Ft. Belvoir last June for the first time, 100 families were served monthly. Today, there are 250 families being served and we are planning to expand to four additional military facilities – Quantico, Ft. Myer, Bolling AFB and Andrews AFB.
The Feds Feed Families drive began when President Obama signed the Serve America Act and created “United We Serve,” calling on all Americans to contribute to the nation’s economic recovery by serving in their communities.
Even though the Capital Area Food Bank is distributing annually 33 million pounds of food, half of which is fresh produce, it is not reaching all of those who suffer from hunger. In order to meet the increasing need, the food bank has just moved into a new 123,000 sq. ft. distribution center at 4900 Puerto Rico Ave., NE. This new facility will enable the food bank to increase significantly its storage and distribution capacity.
In closing, McCaffrey said, “I want to thank DoD for your commitment to feeding those who are at risk of hunger and invite you to visit us, take a tour of our new distribution center and consider volunteering with us.”