ALIVE! has distributed most its regular food reserves, and now needs cash donations and volunteers to contend with COVID-19.
The Alexandria nonprofit provides food for 13 pantries around the city, and the coronavirus has many wondering how infected residents who are food insecure will get fed. ALIVE! is currently working with the city and buying food to support the city should deliveries need to be made to people under quarantine without food reserves at home.
“It takes about $20 a week to feed a family of four,” ALIVE! Executive Director Jennifer Ayers told ALXnow. “We doubled up on regular food distribution this past weekend. We gave away all of our weekend food bags, so our inventory is really low.”
As of now, the ALIVE! last Saturday of the month food distribution at John Adams Elementary School [5651 Rayburn Ave.], the Leonard “Chick” Armstrong Recreation Center [23 W. Reed Ave.] and at Ladrey Apartments [300 Wythe Street] are still scheduled. The Ladrey program will likely be held outside the building, as it is exclusively home to senior citizens — a demographic that is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Food donations are not being accepted at this time in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.
“Right now we need financial contributions to buy more food, and volunteers to sort food and to distribute food, but they will have to be screened through Volunteer Alexandria,” Ayers said. “It doesn’t take a lot of money to support what we do. A little bit goes a long way to helping people.”
Photo via ALIVE!/Facebook
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