Donations, New Center Aid NoVA Food Pantries As Need Increases During Summer

STERLING, VA — As the summer season begins, students will get a break from school and frequent places like the pools, playgrounds and malls. While it's a happy time for children overall, those in food insecure families face more of a challenge finding meals to fill their bellies.

That's something the new Cornerstones Free from Hunger Center in Sterling is hoping to address. On Thursday, Reston-based StarKist provided thousands of pounds of food that were distributed through the center to local food pantries. StarKist had partnered with Feed the Children and local Reston-based nonprofit Cornerstones to host their third annual Summer Food and Resource Rally.

"This is a semi truck of items they're providing," Bob Van Hoecke, a board member at Cornerstones, told Patch.

Five regional food pantries serving Northern Virginia, including areas of Loudoun and Fairfax counties and Alexandria, received boxes of shelf-stable food and boxes of hygiene products like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, personal-care items, Avon products and more. Starkist employees volunteered to pack boxes that food pantries took to serve their clients.

"It's exciting to see these organizations coming together — Starkist, Cornerstones, Feed the Children — to address food insecurity in the region," Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra, a former Fairfax County School Board member now representing House District 7, told Patch. "It's particularly important in the summer when children don't have access to the sources through the schools."

Van Hoecke said the Cornerstones center in Sterling held its ribbon cutting six months ago as the nonprofit expands its presence into Loudoun County in addition to Fairfax County. To stop food from going to waste because food pantries don't have space, the center provides more space to hold food and personal care item donations until food pantries are ready to distribute. If food pantries are running low on items, they can find items at the center as well.

"What we're trying to do is transfer from this scarcity model into a model of abundance," said Van Hoecke.

"It's not that we don't have food, but we need a more comprehensive approach to meet the needs of our community members," added Keys-Gamarra.

One of the benefiting food pantries is the Dulles South Food Pantry, which provides food, supplies and social services in southeastern Loudoun County. The food pantry is marking its 10th anniversary this year and serves about 235 to 250 families per week.

"Our guest numbers have been increasing substantially," Dulles South Food Pantry's executive director Karen Ergenbright told Patch. "This is the first year we hit the 250 mark, so we need a lot of food to meet the need."

About 40 percent of the guests served through Dulles South Food Pantry are children. The food pantry's Backpack Buddies program during the school year provides breakfasts, lunches, drinks and snacks at 21 Loudoun County schools. But that program just ended until the new school year starts. Ergenbright said the children the food pantry serves have a harder time getting food in the summer.

"It's just great to have access to all these resources," added Dulles South Food Pantry's Jen Taylor on the help the Cornerstones Free from Hunger Center donations provide.

Other organizations receiving donations at Cornerstones' center Thursday were the South Lakes High School PTSA Food Pantry, Fellowship Square, LINK and Community Lodgings. South Lakes High School PTSA Food Pantry serves about 275 students per week at the Reston high school. Fellowship Square provides affordable housing to older adults while providing its residents with food and other resources. Its four communities serve 800 and counting residents. LINK serves residents in Herndon and Sterling with food assistance and will serve Ashburn up to June 30. Community Lodgings, founded by eight churches, serves Alexandrians in need to address homelessness and promote self-sufficiency.

Cornerstones itself is a nonprofit providing food assistance, housing and other services to help struggling residents and hopefully prevent some from situations like homelessness. Van Hoecke says the Cornerstones Free from Hunger Center can serve any food pantry but that it may be more feasible for food pantries that can easily stop at the Sterling location.

Food insecurity has been a longtime regional challenge that drew extra attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2022, Feeding America reported a 6.9 percent food insecurity rate in Loudoun County, 8.4 percent in Fairfax County and 10 percent in Alexandria. According to Van Hoecke, Cornerstones has seen both clients who have long-term struggles with self-sufficiency and those who live paycheck to paycheck and may make tough decisions between taking their child to the doctor or paying rent. According to Van Hoecke, Cornerstones has witnessed many stories over the years with people who had secure jobs and were left without a home.

"It's one of those situations where it can happen to anyone," Van Hoecke said.

One of the recent trends affecting food insecurity lately is government assistance programs running out after the pandemic. That has led to people in need to looking for ways to fill in gaps.

Van Hoecke said the new Cornerstones center isn't a means of competition with other food pantries but rather a way to work together on food insecurity.

"What we've heard is they're very appreciative. Those [food pantries] working with us understand we're trying to work with them," said Van Hoecke. "We really have to take a collaborative model. It's only then, joining our efforts that we leverage our resources, so our impact is greater."

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. 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.