WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Virginia Peninsula Foodbank’s Chief Operating Officer Renee Figurelle has been all over the peninsula these past few weeks.
“We’re doing a food distribution for the people in the Williamsburg, James City County, and northern Newport News area. We’re doing it here at Busch Gardens,” she said.
This was the first time that the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank held its “no contact” drive-thru food distribution in the Williamsburg area.
“We’re trying to do at least two large ones a week in different cities and in different areas,” Figurelle explained.
The Foodbank is trying to reach as many people as possible.
“We brought enough for 400, but we brought an extra plus hundred just in case. So we are probably close to 450/500 families today, we’ll probably feed 500 families,” said Figurelle.
Families don’t have to wait for the Foodbank to come to their area.
“We have partner agencies that have been distributing in this area and so people can know they can continue to go to their local pantry that’s still open.”
As the rain poured down Monday morning, volunteers worked through it to get food to the families.
“We do this rain or shine, unless it’s really dangerous weather for the staff and volunteers,” said Figurelle.
Figurelle is grateful for the volunteers that keep on coming back week after week.
“We can’t do what we do without volunteers. It’s a struggle right now because some volunteers are concerned about coming out. We try to do the best we can, wear gloves, wear masks, we provide them with that equipment,” she said.
The dedication of these volunteers doesn’t go unnoticed.
“We really appreciate them coming out and spending their time here because without them, we couldn’t do this. We couldn’t provide this assistance.”