Here's Where Your Neighbors Are Donating Food: Why Not Join Them?

HERNDON, VA — Many families in the Reston and Herndon have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Some have been forced to work fewer hours or even lost their jobs, which means many of them are facing food insecurity.

In Fairfax County, Feeding America predicts approximately 8.4 percent of people are expected to go hungry by the end of the year, compared to 5.4 percent last year.

Patch asked its readers to share in Neighbor Posts some of the places they are supporting that are helping people facing food insecurity during the holidays.

Robert Vaughn of Herndon said that Community of Faith United Methodist Church provides a touchless grocery distribution from 4-5:30 p.m., on Tuesdays, for anyone in need. More information is available online.

Michael Lloyd of Herndon purchases and collects food donations, which he then takes to the Itmann Food Bank in Mullens, West Virginia. The food is then distributed to needy families in Wyoming and McDowell counties.

"I made my first trip in October with over $1,000 worth of food and supplies and will make another trip on Dec. 15," he said. "So far, I have over $1,500 worth of items, plus a donated washer and dryer set to take to a family in need."

According to Lloyd, man people are doing direct shipments from Amazon and Walmart to his residence. He can be contacted via Neighbor Post.

"This is a passion project of mine with a preliminary goal of making one trip every other month, but if I can build a sustainable base of support, I will make the trip once a month," he said. "I fund any trip expense or truck rentals out of my own pocket and do not put these expenses against the food budget."

Caroline Ewart of Reston said she and her family are providing food to four immigrant families whose income has been reduced. She added that Cornerstones, the Reston-based nonprofit, is accepting $20 to $25 grocery gift cards to help families in need.

Cornerstones recently teamed up with the Giant Food Store at North Point Center to collect food donations and gift cards for Reston families, who picked them up last Saturday.

In addition to accepting gift cards, Cornerstones is currently collecting new and gently used winter coats, hats, and gloves for the Hunter Mill Winter Coat Closet. If you need a coat or have a coat to donate, visit the Cornerstones website for more details.

Reston residents Robin Trostel, Patricia Horgan, and Robin Marusin all mentioned A Simple Gesture, which collects food in Cool Green Bags that neighbors leave outside their front door every other month.

In September, Patch interviewed Bob Schnapp, who started A Simple Gesture in June 2015 at the Shoreshim Jewish Community in Reston. Since its inception, the nonprofit has collected more than 400,000 pounds of food.

The donations collected by A Simple Gesture go to four local food pantries — Cornerstones, LINK Against Hunger in Herndon, the South Lakes High School food pantry; and St. Anne's Episcopal Church's pantry — for distribution. The next pickup is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5. Request a Cool Green Bag via A Simple Gesture's website.

Kara Willis of Reston recommended Lasagna Love for anyone in the Reston/Herndon in need of a home-cooked meal.

In October, Patch talked to "Lasagna Mama" Eileen Scherzinger of Reston, who has been signing up volunteers to cook meals and finding families who needed assistance.

"There's no strings attached for the families requesting," she said. "That's the beauty of it. There's no stigma involved. Asking for help is extremely hard, especially for mothers. It's literally them going online. There's a short form to fill out. We don't ask for any Social Security numbers, proof of income. It's nothing like that. It's literally, what would this lasagna mean to help your family?"

Scherzinger then matches the families up with volunteers, who prepare a meal and deliver it to the requester's home.

People looking to volunteer or to request a meal can do so by filling out a form on the Lasagna Love website.

Karin Twilde-Sheifer of Herndon is a volunteer with Food Rescue US-DC, which is working to combat food insecurity and food waste in the metro D.C. area.

"As opposed to purchasing food or collecting donations of food, this volunteer-food runner program, through the use of simple phone app, picks up fresh healthy excess food from local restaurants/businesses and delivers them to nonprofit community partners," Twilde-Sheifer said, in an email.

Thanks to Food Rescue US-DC, Cornerstones is one of the regular recipients of donations from local businesses like Firehook Bakery and Northwest Fresh, both of Chantilly. Other long-time donors include Whole Foods; MOM's Organic Market; We,The Pizza; Sodexo at National Geographic; Restaurant Associates at the U.S. Senate; the World Bank, and the Kennedy Center.

Members of the public who'd like to support Food Rescue US-DC's efforts can make donations to the organization's end of the year campaign. Anyone who'd like to volunteer can visit Food Rescue US-DC's website to learn more.

These are the places that your Reston and Herndon neighbors are donating to or volunteering at to help others in need during the coronavirus pandemic. If you know of any others, please share them in the comments or send an email to: michael.oconnell@patch.com

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 54 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.