Report to the Arlington Interfaith Council

January 11, 2006

Despite the apparent wealth in Arlington County, many residents struggle to make ends meet and cannot always afford to purchase all the food that they need. Food from AFAC can help families stay in their homes, workers stay on the job, help children learn better and faster, and ensures that babies and mothers get the nutrition they need. We are committed to distributing the most nutritious food possible, thereby strengthening the Arlington community.

In FY05, we distributed over 950,000 pounds of food directly to Arlington families and another 20,000 pounds of food to other feeding programs. Last year’s grant from the Arlington Interfaith Council was used for food purchases. The grant of $500 allowed us to purchase 3,500 pounds of food from the Capital Area Food Bank. We did not have to limit or lessen the amount of food we distributed per family. We rounded out our purchased offerings with over 600,000 pounds of donated food. A weekly distribution of food to an individual or family weighed an average of 35 pounds and was valued at $55.00. Grants like the one from AIC help us fulfill our goal of distributing the most nutritious food possible. For several years now, we have been able to give each family a half-gallon of milk and a dozen eggs each week. In addition to our regular distributions we also distributed a free turkey to each family at Thanksgiving and a bag of baking items at the year-end holidays. Our client survey, done in FY05, showed that our clients want more fruits and vegetables. We have begun to work with local produce wholesalers, rescuing thousands of pounds of good produce each week.

Much of the work of AFAC is done by volunteers, and last year, volunteers donated over 15,000 hours of service to us. Volunteers perform many tasks at AFAC, everything from onsite food distribution to serving on our board of directors.

Our cash budget for FY’06 is $562,000, and the total food budget for FY06 is nearly $200,000. Food purchases are the largest part of the AFAC budget. In FY06, we expect to provide supplemental groceries each week to over 550 needy Arlington families, an increase over FY05. We are happy to provide some groceries to other agencies in Arlington. For example, we distribute emergency food kits through the Arlington County Department of Human Services, and we also provide food for the Shirlington Education and Employment Center and for special events at the Drew Community Center like their recent Breakfast with Santa. We look forward to partnering more often with these and other groups in the County. And as funds become available, we will be distributing even more food to the large families who come to us for help, so that all families get the most possible help.