Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.
As Alexandria enters into the second phase of reopening its economy, ALIVE! is expanding its free food distributions for families in need. The nonprofit has given out hundreds of thousands of pounds of food during the pandemic.
“This is not over, people are still food insecure,” ALIVE! Executive Director Jennifer Ayers told ALXnow. “The food insecurity is real. People are still without jobs. We gave out 110,000 pounds of food in April and 127,000 pounds of food in May. Our normal monthly average is about 30,000 pounds, so we are giving away a lot of food.”