VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Easter is this upcoming weekend, and as food prices continue to soar, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore helped to put meals on your table this spring season.
“Times are tough," Maria Curtis said, who stopped by the food distribution event.
"Food is very expensive and it’s becoming more and more difficult to effectively feed a family.”
Help from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore is easing that burden for some Virginia Beach families. Tuesday morning, volunteers packed 60 pounds of food into vehicles outside the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater.
In total, 2,068 households were served with supplies.
“I came really for myself and my wife and some friends, whoever else might need some,” Ronald Thompson said.
Chris Steagall made multiple trips to deliver food to families who couldn’t attend today's event.
“They can’t come out to get them because most don’t have driver’s licenses or the family member works,” Steagall said.
David Brandt with the Foodbank said they prepared to serve up to 2,500 households.
“The SNAP benefits just decreased, and we knew there would be some impact, but it seems like the impact is much greater than we could have possibly imagined,” he said.
Brandt said they met another challenge at the last food drive at this site. It occurred the same day as President Joe Biden’s trip to the area, which he said caused a missed opportunity for those looking for food.
“A lot of that information wasn’t available until the last minute," Brandt said. "So, it was kind of difficult to adjust. But even despite that we still served almost 1,400 households.”
Brandt said the Foodbank is trending toward a record of 20 million pounds of food distributed to families annually.
He said they had to add another person to their sourcing team to keep up with the demand.
This distribution event is held in partnership with the Virginia Department of Human Services and is funded by American Rescue Act money.