Feeding Southwest Virginia puts out all call for volunteers during COVID-19 pandemic

Typical volunteers can’t come due to work from home restrictions

SALEM, Va. – The Coronavirus pandemic is affecting non-profits in southwest Virginia, too.

Feeding Southwest Virginia is putting out an urgent call for volunteers. It said now more than ever people need their food, but it doesn’t have enough hands to process it. Especially since they’ve launched more than a dozen family food pickup locations to supplement the school-delivered food.

Local businesses provide the bulk of the manpower, but with work-from-home orders, that’s dried up.

“We were totally filled up for this month with our corporate volunteer partners and their company’s restricted their travel to other places and we can understand that, and so therefore we found ourselves in an immediate crisis for volunteers to work the food,” Feeding Southwest Virginia president Pamela Irvine said.

Volunteers that are coming in the door are screened for symptoms and limited to ten in the room at a time.

Feeding Southwest Virginia is also asking for those with commercial driving skills or experience to share their time.

Volunteers must be 16-years-old or older.