Their mission is a simple on — to feed folks, to feed folks that are in need; volunteers helping other people with food.
They stay busy: they take in food, they take in donations, which buy more food, and they buy and stock food that they give to those who come to the food bank. Again, their mission is simple.
You may say ‘well who are they?’ They are a lot of dedicated volunteers who make it happen. Becky Buffato and her husband don’t help people take their carts to the cars or work directly with the needy.
“We help with the food that comes in,” Buffato said. “We are on the end of getting the food items in for the pickups.” So, when she was asked to handle a new fundraising project for the food bank, she was surprised, “I’ve never done anything like this but I believe it’s a really good cause.”
They started a program recently called Food on the Move. The program delivers the food where it’s needed.
The food bank needs a van to transport meals and food donations. They have a big transport truck. Unfortunately, the same big transport truck is used for all the small deliveries the food bank makes each week.
“It’s just not cost effective,” Buffato said. They need to secure a smaller van to service their local calls. “We have students, senior citizens and shut-ins that we deliver to and we need something that isn’t as large to fulfill those missions,” Buffato explained.
Buffato and the Director of the Chesterfield food bank, Kim Hill, are the driving force on this initiative.
The Chesterfield Food Bank has been asked this summer to deliver food for summer school children in underserved areas. “It’s one of the reasons we need the van — we are going to the summer school programs about once a week delivering items,” Buffato explained. “But every single week we go to senior centers and we deliver food to people who can’t leave their homes due to illness, the shut-ins, depend on us to help out.”
Buffato explained that getting the money just isn’t simple. “Any money that’s made in donations at the food bank only goes for food,” she explained. They cannot be used for anything else.
The Food on the Move program is an essential program that helps right in the neighborhood, right in Chesterfield County residents backyards. “The food bank takes food to those who can’t come to us,” she shared. “Anything we take out of the food bank is essential services and we need to do it efficiently.”
The group found a van. It is an investment of $5,000 and is certainly needed for the Food on the Move program. So, Buffato is using an online funding program called Red Basket.
“Red Basket does not take any fees,” Buffato said.
For an opportunity to help, visit the Chesterfield Food Bank’s page on Red Basket. The site to give can be found at redbasket.org/503/a-new-ride-for-food-on-the-move. They said it best on their site:
Buffato wants us all to remember that this money, this van, will be used right here in Chesterfield County in areas where it is needed most.
If donating online is not an option, The Chesterfield Food Bank is happy to accept checks at their center — just be sure to designate the gift for the van. They are located at 12211 Iron Bridge Road in Chester near the WalMart store or call them at 414-8885.
