FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – If you’re struggling because of the coronavirus and could use a free meal, the Roanoke Valley United Way may be your answer.
As soon as the food trailar was set up in the parking lot of Ferrum Elementary School on Monday afternoon, Roanoke Valley United Way volunteers and a volunteer from the Franklin County Department of Public Safety started handing out food.
Wendy Lawson drove in from Patrick County just to get a meal.
“(I’m) very grateful. It’s hard to even find stuff in the grocery store right now," Lawson said.
She’s been laid off and getting food, she said, is starting to become ab issue.
“If you can stop and get a meal on top of worrying about everything, it takes that stress off of you so you can continue during the day and do what you need to do,” Lawson said.
Franklin County resident Jeffrey Rakes stopped by with his family, too.
“It’s wonderful. It’s very helpful," said Rakes.
Monday was the first day of the Roanoke Valley United Way’s “Feeding Franklin County” project.
The project was developed as a result of the organization filling in for volunteers at the Stepping Stone Soup Kitchen in Rocky Mount.
“Once we had kind of filled in for them for a little while, we were getting comments from the general public saying, ‘This would be great if it were a little bit more of a mobile unit,'” United Way Community Impact Associate Director Pamela Chitwood explained.
The goal is to continue this project as long as funding is available, taking the trailer to different locations throughout Franklin County.
“Just in speaking with a couple who was here a little earlier, they are grateful. They realize they don’t have to make that transportation trek into Rocky Mount," Chitwood said.
Getting food into the hands, and ultimately stomachs, of the people who need it most.
The trailer will be at the following locations from 1-2 p.m. each day:
- Mondays - Ferrum Elementary School
- Tuesdays - Henry Elementary School
- Wednesdays - Glade Hill Elementary School
- Thursdays - Callaway Elementary School
- Fridays - Heavenly Manna Food Bank