AFAC's April Update

April 2021

Renovation Update

Last October, the owner of the building next door decided to sell the warehouse (that we had been leasing) to AFAC. In January, we began a complete renovation of the building – a new roof, new floors, a Warehouse Manager’s office, proper restrooms, and a new multipurpose room will be added where an office block used to be. We will be doubling our refrigeration space and a doorway linking our two buildings will be added. Click here to read more.

2021 Client Survey Report

AFAC has completed its reporting on our annual client survey and is now available to read on our website. Every year, AFAC conducts an in-depth survey to gather client feedback. In total, AFAC received 1,241 survey responses, 57.6% of the 2,154 families served with groceries during the period of survey collection in February. This is a 23% increase from the previous year! Click to read more.

Upcoming Events

Body by Ginny Obstacle Race

Saturday, April 24, 8 AM

The 9th annual Body by Ginny Obstacle Run/Walk for AFAC is this Saturday! This year's virtual race will start at 8 AM. A donation to AFAC is your registration. For more information and event instructions, visit the event page.

Spring Event

Our annual Spring event, Shining a Light on Hunger, will not be held as planned for a 2nd year in a row due to the ongoing pandemic. This event is the largest annual fundraising event for AFAC and was scheduled for April 22 at the Army Navy Country Club. We are grateful to our many sponsors (listed at the bottom of this email) who still showed their support this year.

Parks & Recreation Food Drive

May 8 & 9

On the weekend of May 8 & 9, AFAC will partner with Arlington County's Parks and Recreation for a food drive! There will be food drive boxes outside 12 community centers, where you can drop off non-perishable donations. Click for more information.

Stamp Out Hunger, AFAC's annual food drive with our local letter carriers, will not occur this year.

Want to set up your own food drive for AFAC? You can do so in just 6 easy steps! Thanks to high school student Maya Koenig, you can watch a short video on how to create a successful food drive. Visit our food drive page to watch and learn more.

Volunteer News

Happy National Volunteer Week!

The volunteer team and all the staff at AFAC appreciates our hard-working volunteers each and every day. They provide us with tens of thousands of volunteer hours each year, helping us serve our 2,400 client families each week. We literally could not do it without them. This has been a challenging year in many ways, but we love how so many people stepped up to help their neighbors in need.

Here are some pictures of just a few of the volunteers who have volunteered more than 200 hours during the last year and our individual volunteer of the year, Doris Bennett. They are our superheroes!

Arlington Chamber Day

On Tuesday, we hosted members of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce for their Arlington Chamber Day of service. Employees from various Arlington businesses toured AFAC's facility and helped bag dry goods for our food distribution. Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti pitched in as well. Thank you all for your help!

Thank You

AFAC Voted "Favorite Local Nonprofit"!

AFAC was voted "Favorite Local Nonprofit" in the Spring 2021 Arlies Community Awards by readers of ARLNow! We are truly honored. Thank you to everyone who voted and for helping us feed our neighbors in need!

Bookmobile

Earlier this month, Arlington Public Library's Bookmobile visited AFAC and other Arlington nonprofit organizations during National Library Week to hand out free books, craft kits, and other resources! Thank you and we look forward to the Bookmobile returning to our sites again!

Roots 'n Shoots

Thank you to Paula from Roots 'n Shoots for stopping by AFAC's distribution last Thursday and for giving away microgreens and starter growing kits to AFAC clients so they can grow delicious and healthy greens from inside their own homes!