Foundation donates vehicle to Feeding America Southwest Virginia to serve more meals

ROANOKE, Va. – Feeding America Southwest Virginia has a new tool to transport meals to people in need. Thanks to the Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia, the new "Mobile Meals to Feed the Hungry" vehicle is ready to roll. 

"We're only successful as a community foundation if we have great partners to make grants to so we're delighted to have made this grant," said Alan Ronk, president and CEO of the community foundation. 

Feeding America Southwest Virginia provides thousands of meals to people in need throughout the year. From May to August of this year, the organization served 19,000 meals to children as part of its summer feeding program. With numbers like that, transportation has been a critical need. 

"We leased vehicles, we had to find other vehicles and so transport became an immediate issue," said Pamela Irvine, president and CEO of Feeding America Southwest Virginia. 

Hunger is still a very real issue in the Roanoke Valley. In Feeding America Southwest Virginia's service area, more than 100,000 people are food insecure. The Community Foundation says it is hoping to continue to partner with Feeding America Southwest Virginia to address that need. 

"It's hard to put that into words. It really is an emotional feeling to be in a position where you're providing these meals to children," said Ronk.

Feeding America Southwest Virginia was also able to buy a new walk-in freezer to store meals with money left over after buying the van.
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