A leading Alexandria nonprofit that has given away more than 1 million pounds of food since the pandemic began is ready for the winter.

ALIVE! Executive Director Jennifer Ayers says that her organization is now giving out upward of 180,000 pounds of food every month. Before COVID-19, ALIVE! was giving out about 30,000 pounds of food every month.

“I feel like we’ve reached a level of new reality and we’ve scaled our operation to meet that, but we still feel we haven’t reached the peak of this process, although we’re better prepared to respond to it,” Ayers told ALXnow.

On Saturday, City Council will consider extending a licensing agreement with ALIVE! to keep using the city’s Archives and Records Center at 801 South Payne Street until Nov. 30, 2025. The five-year agreement was initially signed in 2015 and expired this past summer. ALIVE! also uses the old DASH Bus Barn at 116 S. Quaker Lane for food distribution packing and distribution.

ALIVE! also recently launched an eviction prevention program to connect impacted residents.

“We’re seeing more and more people in need of all types of assistance, who are worried that they are going to being evicted,” Ayers said.

ALIVE! is currently conducting a children’t toy drive and recently announced an emergency food popup distribution this Friday, from 3-4:30 p.m. at 200 S. Whiting Street.

Photo via Alive!/Facebook