The West Springfield Rotary Club and its Foundation are supporting the West Springfield High School Interact Club in their project to pack at least 10,000 meals to give to the Capital Area Food Bank to help feed the approximately 1.5 million people in Northern Virginia who are food insecure. Your contribution of $10 will enable the students to pack 300 meals, and $100 will provide over 3,000 meals. People experiencing hunger in Northern Virginia need your help!

More than 1.5 million people in the Northern Virginia region are food insecure, including 1 in 10 children and people in every neighborhood, according to the Lorton Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). More than three fourths are employed but not making enough money to provide sufficient food. And food insecurity is getting worse today with wages that are not keeping up with steady inflation and cutbacks to government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Food insecure families have to make difficult choices between food and necessities like housing and medical care, and children are more likely to experience health issues and have trouble concentrating in school.

Students in the West Springfield High School Interact Club will prepare at least 10,000 food packs on Thursday, January 22 to give to the Capital Area Food Bank. The Food Bank will distribute this food to the more than 400 organizations in our region that it supports. Materials for the food packs will be purchased from Meals of Hope, and the cost for each pack is an unbelievably low price of $0.33.

Meals of Hope, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, was started by a Rotarian 18 years ago, and works with Rotary clubs around the country to provide food for those in need. MOH meets the American Institute of Baking International’s stringent standards that require organizations to use best practices for food handling and distribution.