Hands of Grace, and the importance of food banks
- andreww019
- May 7, 2022
- 2 min read
In a small town called Elk Creek just outside of Wytheville, Va., the Hands of Grace food bank serves as a steady and reliable presence in an area that features an average household income of $32,178. Elk Creek is but one town in the large Grayson County, located in southwest Virginia, yet Hands of Grace is the only food bank and/or pantry in the county.
“I remember getting little packages in school because I was part of the free lunch program,” said Lakin Hall, a volunteer at Hands of Grace. “Those packages were made by the food bank here and when I found out they were so close, I knew I had to come a help a little.”
Hall briefly went through a period of food insecurity from 2015-2017 and sometimes heavily relied on the pre-packaged food that was distributed by the Hands of Grace food bank.
“It wasn’t like a gourmet meal, but it was a nice full meal when I didn’t know if I was going to have one otherwise,” said Hall. “To be able to help those who went through what I went through, at all, is definitely worth it.”
Food pantries, commonly referred to as food banks, are most often non-profit organizations that recruit volunteers to distribute donated food to those in need of quality meals. In 2019, it was reported that 4.4 percent of all households used a food pantry. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that number jumped up to 6.7 percent just a year later in 2020. The use of food pantries was especially prevalent among households that already had struggled with food insecurity, as a staggering 36.5 percent of these households visited one.
Even since, food pantries have still yet to return to pre-pandemic levels of visitation, and some locations may be stressed with too little help. As such, it is more important than ever to reach out to a local food bank/pantry and offer to volunteer if possible. Below is an interview with another Hands of Grace volunteer, Jason Jones.
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