The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) is expanding its impressive record of service to Arlington families in need with an extended outreach to the elderly, an effort that already caters to about 400 residents of senior-living facilities by providing another 30 percent more meals. 

“We are working to expand our outreach to needy seniors at Culpepper Gardens and Woodland Hills by providing weekly supplemental groceries to these needy elderly residents in addition to those we already service at Carlin House on Carlin Springs Road, Claridge House in Crystal City, and Hunter’s Park in Cherrydale with food delivered to them on a weekly basis in our vans,” said Charles Meng, executive director at AFAC.

AFAC is talking with Woodland Hills and is currently making an assessment of residents at Culpepper Gardens to determine how many elderly seniors need assistance.

“We recommend that our clients go through the Arlington County Department of Human Services (DHS) for a referral because often times a lack of food can be a symptom of something else like unemployment, alcohol dependency, drug abuse, mental health concerns and health issues, which DHS can be counted on to make a full assessment of and often help meet all of their outstanding needs with a wide variety of appropriate programs,” said Meng.

AFAC has made its FY2012 funding requests to the Arlington County Board and is proud of its achievements in meeting its goals in fiscal 2010. They included outreach to the elderly, cultivating more fresh produce, a backpack program for Arlington school children in housing transition situations, and providing surplus food to area churches that supply evening and special meals for the homeless. The non-profit food pantry holds a 2010 record of serving an average of 1,208 families each week and distributing 2.3 million pounds of food, while 400 volunteers donate over 25,000 hours of time each year. 

In its continuing efforts to raise funds and donations to help feed Arlington’s hungry, AFAC shepherds the Plot Against Hunger program, which recruits local gardeners to grow and harvest fresh produce for the pantry from the garden plots of area churches, schools and individuals, including the popular Arlington Central Library’s garden.

In addition, the new backpack program for roughly 300 Arlington Public School students living in transitional housing situations or coping with homelessness is underway currently assisting twelve Drew Middle School students.  Under the expanding initiative, those students receive food on Friday mornings in non-descript backpacks that are designed to last through the weekend.

On a very local note, recently completed was the 8th Annual Construction Competition sponsored by the AIA Northern Virginia Chapter at the Ballston Common Mall where area architects and builders came together to make all types of bold and creative construction projects out of canned goods, which were all ultimately donated to AFAC for their clients benefit. 

If you need food assistance or know someone in Arlington that does, contact Koube Ngaaje at Koube.Ngaaje@afac.org.  To get yourself and your family and friends involved in any of the volunteer efforts at the center (including donating proceeds from your garden harvest), contact volunteer4afac@afac.org.