February 19, 2009 Issue
Food Lion Donates 34,000 Pounds of Food to Hospitality House
More than 87,000 people were offered a hot meal or a food box from the Hospitality House in 2008. Food Lion of Blowing Rock donated a significant portion of that food through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina.
Volunteers led by parishioner Bill Parker from St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church pick up food from the Blowing Rock grocery chain for distribution to the Hospitality House. The food is used to help prepare three meals a day at the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen, or is placed in food boxes for hungry families in the local community. In January alone, Hospitality House served more than 9,000 meals.
“The need for food and shelter continues to increase dramatically,” said Lynne Mason, executive director of Hospitality House. “Each day we are serving record numbers of individuals and families. We could not meet the demand without the partnership with Food Lion and the food bank.”
The food bank reports that many of the people asking for assistance in the local area are first time requestors. These are people who previously had jobs but, through no fault of their own, have lost them. They need help to stretch scarce resources and obtain food, medicine, housing and fuel to take care of their families.
Grocery chains and local restaurants are encouraged to participate in this vital outreach. For more information on how to help, contact Jill Landers, director of development, at 828-262-3461. Stores or restaurants that wish to partner with the food bank can contact Erin Foster, marketing manager of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, at 336-784-5770.
Hospitality House is a non-profit crisis intervention agency that provides shelter and services to the homeless, operates the community soup kitchen and administers WeCAN, the local crisis assistance program.
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