Take What You Need or Donate Anytime 

The new food pantry is located at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen (2880 Mountain Rd, Glen Allen, VA 23060) on the left side of the parking lot. Designed to provide easy access for those needing food or basic household items, as well as those looking to donate, the food pantry works much like a food drive box. From dry and canned goods to small personal care and household items, community members are welcome to stop by and take what they need or donate to this cause by adding items to the box.

Taking Care of Others in Times of Need

The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen has long been a go-to resource for the arts, from classes for adults, teens, and youth to live music and theater. Of course, like venues across the nation, they have had to cancel many of their regular programs due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety protocol. The food pantry came about as a way to continue reaching out to the community and providing support to those in need.

The Center’s president, K. Alferio, says, “We know that these times are taking a huge toll on so many businesses and individuals.  Creating a place to share with those in need was something we really wanted to facilitate.  When the need for food sharing subsidies, we plan to convert the area into a place to share art supplies. If these tragic times have taught us anything, it is to take care of others.”

It’s efforts like the Community Food Pantry at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen that remind us just how important it is to come together during times of crisis and show just how much we can do with a little creativity and generosity.

How You Can Donate to the Community Food Pantry

Join us in supporting this amazing effort by dropping of donations of new, unopened household goods, toiletries, dry foods, or canned goods directly in the food pantry box and remember this quote from the team at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen: Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!

To see more businesses and organizations in the Richmond area who have gone above and beyond to support their community, be sure to visit Richmond Mom’s Community Spotlight.

About The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen
The Center’s mission is to inspire and enrich the Greater Richmond community by offering exceptional performances, classes, and visual arts exhibits. They offer residents and visitors an unparalleled opportunity to experience the arts, entertain new ideas, develop a new talent, and experience first-hand, all the best this community has to offer.

Visit www.artsglenallen.com to learn more about The Center, or click here to see a list of available socially-distanced summer classes and register online.

The post Community Spotlight: Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen Opens a New Food Pantry for All appeared first on Richmond Mom.

Research shows that the summer months are already one of the hungriest times of year for many children.

The need will be even greater this summer with more than 10% of Virginians facing unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent estimates show that as many as one in four children could experience food insecurity in the aftermath of this crisis.

But thanks to the efforts of organizations like No Kid Hungry Virginia, free meals for children will continue to be available across Virginia during the summer.

No Kid Hungry Virginia encourages families to text FOOD or COMIDA to 877-877 to find free meals and summer food sites organized by school districts and community organizations.

Meal sites are offering a variety of distribution models to help safely connect students with meals and promote social distancing, including “Grab and Go” service and food delivery along bus routes while passing out multiple days’ worth of meals at one-time.

“A big challenge is making sure families know how to find resources,” said Sarah Steely, No Kid Hungry Virginia Associate Director. “Please share the texting number with family and friends and on social networks, and check with your local school division for the most detailed information. We need to make everyone is aware of free meal resources in their communities.”

The Summer Meals program is funded by the USDA and operated by school districts and local organizations. Schools have been utilizing the Summer Meals program to operate emergency meal sites throughout the pandemic.

Families can text FOOD or COMIDA to 877-877 and type in a zip code to find nearby summer meal sites, along with operating days and times. No application or registration is required at sites.

Summer hunger can have a long-term impact on a child’s health, ability to learn, and general well-being. No Kid Hungry Virginia is focused on providing funding and strategic assistance to schools and local organizations implementing summer meal programs to help them reach more kids during the pandemic.

If you would like to be part of the vital work being done in your own community, visit va.nokidhungry.org for more information about No Kid Hungry Virginia’s work.

About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But millions don’t know where their next meal is coming from. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign by Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty.

The post Community Spotlight: Free Meals Continue Through Summer With No Kid Hungry Virginia appeared first on Richmond Mom.

As we have continued to reach out to our Richmond community and learn what various groups and organizations are doing to help their family, friends, and neighbors during the COVID-19 crisis, we have been amazed at the creativity and generosity of so many people. Today, we want to highlight a special group of essential workers at 2000 West Creek Apartments.

Essential workers are the ones who head out every day to help keep our hospitals, doctors’ offices, grocery stores, food distribution services, and other offices open and running. They are the ones who have allowed us to maintain some semblance of normalcy and security during these uncertain times – despite putting themselves at risk. Whether it’s the payroll manager who goes in to the office to make sure checks get out on time or the grocery store employee who keeps the shelves stocked, we are beyond grateful to these “front line” employees who have shown themselves to be essential workers in every sense.

At 2000 West Creek Apartments, members of the property management team are considered essential workers as they are the ones who manage leases, oversee building and grounds maintenance, and overall, ensure the highest quality of life possible for their residents. And while their day-to-day responsibilities are important, we are recognizing them today because this team has gone above and beyond to serve their community – and in doing so, they have provided us with the perfect example of what it means to “be a good neighbor.”

Brina Brigham is the Community Manager at 2000 West Creek Apartments and she shared with us some of the efforts her team has been making, including:

• Delivering toilet paper to all 373 apartments with a note that said “While we are missing spending time with each of you today, we still wanted to put a smile on your face”
• Delivering bags of chalk to all buildings and asking residents to “Brighten our sidewalks.”
• Decorating the community commons spaces with inspirational quotes, fun pictures, smiley faces, and more.
• Hosting a virtual cutest pet contest.
• Supporting Dover Hall by offering residents free delivery on April 8th – then having staff pick up and deliver orders.
• Hosting an “Easter Egg hunt” in which residents could place a decorative egg print in their window for other residents to find while walking through community.
• Providing ongoing support for local restaurants and food trucks by scheduling days for them to come to the community and provide no-contact service for residents (which also alleviates the need for residents to leave home for food).
• Delivering residents’ packages to their doors so they don’t have to come to the centralized mail location. (Plus, they add encouraging notes of their own with each delivery!)

Brigham said, “I know everyone on my team is feeling immense stress as we are listening to stories each day of why our residents lost their jobs, or they found out someone they love is sick, etc. I want my team to know how much they are appreciated and that the work they are doing is absolutely essential.”

While we may not all be in a position to give back on the scale that many essential workers do, the team at 2000 West Creek Apartments has given us an example of how we can brighten the lives of those around us – no matter what community we are in.

The post Community Spotlight: Essential Workers Show Us How to Be Good Neighbors at 2000 West Creek Apartments appeared first on Richmond Mom.

Fortunately, another organization in Richmond decided to step in and do what they could to make the Easter holiday a little brighter for these kids.

Cost Plus World Market recently donated its entire stock of Easter goodies and decorations to UMFS to bring some Easter spirit to children living on the nonprofit’s campuses and its essential staff and their families.

As a non-essential business, Cost Plus World Market found themselves surrounded by aisles of untouched chocolate bunnies and rainbow-colored eggs that would be of no use when they reopen. Rather than let them go to waste, the Cost Plus World Market location on West Broad Street donated three aisles worth of Easter products to UMFS this week.

Thanks to the donation, staff were able to provide every child with an Easter basket full of goodies.

They used what was left to set up a mini-store for UMFS essential staff who have been working around the clock throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It warms our hearts, and we are so happy that children and families get to be on the receiving end of something like this,” said Pam Jackowski, general manager of CPWM. “We all feel so uplifted, especially during such a difficult time in the world.”

UMFS received 17 large moving boxes and 8 large bags worth of Easter eggs, baskets, chocolate bunnies and other assorted Easter décor.

“This gift from World Market was incredible and so timely for our residential youth and our team on the front line,” said Sheena Lyle, UMFS program director for the UMFS Child & Family Healing Center. “We’re so grateful because the donation provides Easter treats to all of our incredible staff and residents at both CFHC in Richmond and Leland House in Fairfax. One of our teaching staff here was actually moved to tears by World Market’s generosity.”

About UMFS:

UMFS is a statewide, nonprofit agency providing unwavering support and resources to children, teens, and families as they work to conquer behavioral, emotional, and mental health challenges. UMFS was founded in 1900 as an orphanage in Richmond, and today it provides services ranging from treatment foster care to residential treatment at nine offices across the commonwealth, impacting nearly 13,775 children, teens, and family members. UMFS believes children and teens do better when they’re with families, which is why it offers 18 programs specializing in family creation and preservation.

About Cost Plus World Market:  

Cost Plus World Market 276 stores in 36 states and the District of Columbia under the World Market® and Cost Plus World Market® trademarks. The stores feature an ever-changing selection of casual home decor and furniture, housewares, gifts, jewelry, decorative accessories, over 500 international wines, gourmet foods and beverages offered at affordable prices and imported from more than 50 countries. Many items are unique and exclusive to World Market and are regularly supplied by an international network of individual and regional artisans developed over the Company’s more than 50 years in the import business.

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Each week, Richmond Mom will be featuring local organizations and businesses that are giving back to our community in this time of crisis. If you know of a local organization or business that is going above and beyond to support the Greater Richmond community, please let us know at cs@richmondmom.com! 

The post Community Spotlight: A Donated Easter from Cost Plus World Market to UMFS Youth appeared first on Richmond Mom.

In response to generous offers and inquiries from citizens and community groups, Henrico County Public Schools and the Henrico Education Foundation have collected stocks of food supplies and other items to help vulnerable families during the school division’s closure.

While the community has been extraordinarily generous, it can sometimes be hard to match donated items with families’ specific needs. The new funds are an effort to move to monetary donations, in order to fill gaps in community donations and respond to families’ most pressing needs — such as specific food items and devices to create home-internet Wi-Fi hot spots.

To contribute to the fund, go to henricogives.org and click on the blue “Donate” button in the COVID-19 area.

All funds donated by individuals and groups since March 20 are being matched up to $15,000 by the Robins Foundation. While donations beyond the $15,000 grant goal won’t be matched by the Robins Foundation, they will still be used to address Henrico families’ most-pressing needs.

Donations will continue to help provide weekend food supplements to students who use the school division’s weekday “grab and go” lunches and breakfasts, and aid families who might be affected by reduced work hours and paychecks during the public health crisis. During the school year, Henrico Schools has more than 400 participants in its “weekend backpacks” food take-home program. More than 800 current HCPS students have been identified through the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act as being homeless or children of a homeless individual.

“We are connected to families that have already lost their jobs. It is hard to focus on learning when life has become so complex and tough to navigate,” said Adrienne Cole Johnson, HCPS’ family and community engagement director.

The Henrico Education Foundation will use donated funds to buy some of the most-needed items in bulk from an HCPS wholesale vendor. In most cases, items can be delivered the next day. By buying in this way, the foundation not only hopes to help Henrico families get what they need but also to avoid emptying the shelves of local retail stores on which our community depends.

“We’re proud to stand with Henrico Schools and Henrico General Government to help our families in need,” said Mike Taylor, chief executive officer of the Henrico Education Foundation. “This match from the Robins Foundation will build on the generous $40,000 our community has already given to help our neighbors with the things they’re telling us they need most.”

The Robins Foundation works to build the Richmond region by strengthening nonprofits that provide resources and take on poverty. The foundation is a strategic partner of the Henrico Education Foundation, aiding its goals of providing research-based innovative educational programs and support to all HCPS schools.

The above information was provided directly by Henrico County Schools. For more valuable, up-to-date information about the efforts being made throughout the Henrico County School system, including food availability and pick-up locations, be sure to visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HenricoCountyPublicSchools/

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Each week, Richmond Mom will be featuring local organizations and businesses that are giving back to our community in this time of crisis. If you know of an local organization or business that is going above and beyond to support the Greater Richmond community, please let us know at cs@richmondmom.com! 

The post Community Spotlight: Henrico County Public Schools and The Robins Foundation appeared first on Richmond Mom.