HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton resident, Michael Davis is one of scores of people who showed up for a mobile food pantry in Hampton, on Saturday morning.
He said with high inflation and high food prices some families need a little extra help to get by.
“The cost of living is very expensive right now. I’m single, I stay by myself, I still need the extra help," he said.
A line of cars stretched around Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hampton for a drive-through food bank.
Jennie Wiebke is the head of the food pantry at the church. She said they teamed up with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank for Saturday morning’s event. Other food items were bought by the church or donated by church members.
Wiebke said many people are still grappling with a high cost of living, so they wanted to help.
“They drive through, it’s contactless, and we give them a bag of groceries," Wiebke said. "I would say over the last year we’ve seen a huge need in the community for food. For instance, in the month of August, we gave out well over 400 bags of food.”
She said her team aims to feed at least 150 families through this food drive as a way to give back to the community and help those who need assistance.
"I think we live in an area of Hampton that we do have a lot of food insecure people in this area," she said. "We have a lot of unsheltered people that come to our walk-in pantry.”
Davis said food pantries like this are a big help for everyone, especially as we close in on the holiday season.
“Christmas is coming around too, so you need all the money you can," he said. "This is a good thing that they’re doing for the people in the community because a lot of people need help.”
The Virginia Peninsula Food Bank’s next mobile food distribution is this coming Tuesday in Hampton. There are more planned for the remainder of the month.