Thursday, April 08, 2010
Food bank begins annual drive to collect 100% juice
Also, the fourth annual Legal Food Frenzy is being conducted by lawyers around the state.
Photo by Jeremy Butterfield
Miss Roanoke Valley Madison VanDuyne helps the food bank and its partners kick off the annual juice drive.
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Volunteers with the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank will be busy this month collecting, stocking and distributing food during two annual food drives.
The food bank's juice drive started April 1 with a new partner, Nestle, which donated a truckload of Juicy Juice, a product it says is 100 percent juice, to kick off the drive.
Lawyers from around the state also started their fourth annual Legal Food Frenzy with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli attending a kickoff luncheon Monday at the Salem facility.
The Legal Food Frenzy pits Virginia law firms in a battle, on a per capita basis, to see which office can collect the most food and/or funds for its local food bank by April 16.
Last year, law firms raised 1.6 million pounds of food, with Southwest Virginia firms alone collecting more than 96,000 pounds.
The food bank provides food for 80 children's programs throughout the 26 counties that it serves. The programs serve hundreds of thousands of meals and snacks each year and provide food for more than 3,000 children.
According to Kitty Tabor, the food bank's procurement manager, "one hundred percent juice plays a significant role in providing a nutritional menu to spark growth and strength in the young minds and bodies being served."
Last year, the food bank provided enough food for more than 504,000 meals and snacks for children's programs throughout Southwest Virginia, she said, adding that 100 percent juice makes up a large portion of those meals and snacks.
"That's why this annual effort is so vital to the food bank," she added.
Last year, the food bank collected 50,000 servings of 100 percent juice.
Nestle joins the food bank, Miss Roanoke Valley Madison VanDuyne and partners -- Kroger, WSLS-10 and Acquisition Title and Settlement -- in the juice drive.
Kroger not only is a community drop off point for donated juice, but also its Mid-Atlantic stores are offering $1 and $5 Juice Drive icons at registers. Money from the icon sales goes straight to purchasing 100 percent juice.
For more information on either food drive, call 342-3011 or visit www.swvafoodbank.org.
