Efficiency, volunteers have BRAFB turning $1 into four meals

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank provides meals to families in central Virginia, stretching out to the Shenandoah Valley. That’s a lot of ground covered, and a lot of meals provided.

NBC29′s Summer Fund Drive with the BRAFB is nearing its end, but there is still time to help. For every dollar you donate, four meals can be provided to a family.

“It’s not all just right here at this location. We’re out delivering this food into rural areas, and to every corner of our state,” Director of Development Millie Winstead said. “How we turn your $1 gift into enough for for meals really comes down to economies of scale.”

Winstead says that includes working with Feeding America, and also more than 200 partner agencies in the area. That includes pantries, soup kitchens, farms and more.

“Your dollar helping us to achieve enough food for four meals, really all of that comes down to our purchasing power and our ability to accept donations even on a national level,” Winstead said. “When we’re providing food for enough for meals, what we’re providing is the staples and the backbone, including our proteins and our fresh produce to help a family put together meals for their own needs”

Many of those meals go to partners like Feeding Greene and Loaves and Fishes, who help to feed as many people as possible. Winstead says it’s also about more than the money-- it’s about the messages and connections within the food bank.

“We are reaching out, and it’s a very much of a collaborative nature, what we do to provide hunger relief,” Winstead said

All of these players and volunteers help the food bank turn that one dollar into four meals.

“Over last year, we distributed just around 28 million pounds of food. You might find it surprising that we have a less than 1% disposal rate, because of, again, the efficiency and the economies of scale that we’re working with. We have a fantastic operations team that is moving this food incredibly quickly,” Winstead said.

If you want to donate to our Summer Fund Drive, you still have a chance to do so here. If you want to use the food finder tool, you can go visit Food Finder - Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (brafb.org).

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