Weekend Food for Kids Wraps Up Last Packing for the School Year

Assistance League of Northern Virginia’s final food-packing of the school year was another fun and impactful event. Sixty volunteers helped pack 1,720 bags of nonperishable food that were delivered to 6 schools in Fairfax and Prince William counties. Those schools also received some emergency grocery gift cards, and a seventh school also received a supply of grocery cards.

Assistance League members were joined by volunteers from Dominion Energy, the long-time partner in this effort, as well as friends from Didlake and RBH Global Wealth. Joining for the first time were Sia Floyd, President & CEO of Antean Technology, Sean Floyd, and Kumba Gbakima. Besides helping with the packing, Antean has pledged financial support for the chapter, which is greatly appreciated. After the food packing, Ms. Floyd commented on what a well-oiled and organized operation the packing was. Indeed, it is. In this – the 12th year of partnering with Dominion for this program - Assistance League’s Weekend Food for Kids Team has the logistics of this operation down to a science. The smooth operations were enhanced by music provided by the DJ so everyone could pack to the beat, and maybe sing along, to a variety of oldies and show tunes.

Videographer Bob Kovacs has produced a time-lapse video of a recent food packing. He condensed into a 1-minute video the entire 2-hour packing process, starting with members opening all the packages and placing them at each packing station in the 3 assembly lines, and ending with all the bags packed and moved outside to the trucks for delivery. Although the background music helps quicken the pace, the process is not that fast. Use this link to view the video. Weekend Food for Kids - Packing Timelapse 01/31/2024 (youtube.com).

As is customary for the final food-packing of the school year, lunch was provided to thank the volunteers who helped pack the 15,480 food bags that we delivered this year. Dominion Energy ordered pizzas with a wide assortment of sauces and toppings, and the Weekend Food team provided drinks and desserts.

The nonprofit’s New Clothing for Kids program also finished the school year with a bang. Assistance League delivered more than 300 clothing items to 6 schools, including shorts and T-shirts, leggings, joggers, underwear, socks, sweatshirts, and summer dresses. Many of those items were donated by friends and supporters who purchased them from the monthly wish lists. Assistance League is very grateful for the community support of its Wish List campaigns and the wonderful generosity of the donors.

So many good things are happening for Assistance League as it continues to celebrate 20 years of making a difference in the community.