Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia

For over 35 years, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore (FSEVA) has provided over 261 million meals to those in our community who face hunger. Through our programs, facilities, and large network of community partners, we “eliminate hunger” on a daily basis for many. However, we understand that our current work addresses hunger for individuals in the short term. It does not address the root causes which force individuals to return to a food pantry again and again. This understanding led us to commit to the development of a new strategic plan in the Fall of 2016. We have created a three-year strategic plan aimed to move Hampton Roads closer to achieving the mission of eliminating hunger for those we serve—not only for the day, or for a week, but for a lifetime.

The Foodbank’s strategic plan is designed to balance our efforts in “feeding the line” while giving specific attention to strategies designed to “end the line.”
As the region's largest hunger-relief organization, we know that to eliminate hunger in our community, we must simultaneously provide meals to address food insecurity in the short term, as well as establish collaborative partnerships that will move our clients to a greater level of self-sufficiency.

According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study, there are 160,480 individuals in the FSEVA’s service area who are food insecure representing 13% of the overall population. Additionally, there are 40,360 children who are food insecure, representing 14.6%. Given that food insecurity can negatively affect the health and well-being of individuals, especially children, the need for assistance remains substantial because federal nutrition assistance is not enough. According to data from the Map the Meal Gap report, it is estimated that 36% of food-insecure individuals throughout our service area earn too much to qualify for most federal nutrition assistance programs, but don’t make enough to provide balanced meals for their families every day. The USDA reports that there are 26 census tracts within the FSEVA’s service area considered to be a food desert. We aim to decrease these numbers.

With the vision of a hunger-free community, the FSEVA operates the following strategies and programs:
• Warehouse/Partner Agency Distribution – Over 6,852,000 meals of donated food each year, as well as fresh produce are inspected, sorted and delivered to Partner Agencies who then serve individuals in their own communities.
• Food Rescue - This is an initiative through which we rescue prepared and perishable food from area grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and discount retailers to distribute immediately to those who are facing hunger. In FY19, we rescued 4,441,000 pounds of food and distributed them through our partner agencies.
• Child Nutrition Programs (BackPack Program and Kids Cafe) In FY19, we provided 1,795 nutritious meals through the Kids Cafe program through 10 Kids Café sites. Kids Café distributed 216,108 nutritious meals and snacks after school hours to children in need between the ages of 5-18. The BackPack program distributes 3385 back packs with five to six meals each to children facing hunger at the end of the school day, in the evenings, and before weekends and/or school breaks, picking up where free and reduced-price school meal programs end. The BackPack programs distributes in 53 schools serving over 337,000 meals.
• Mobile Pantry Program - Through this system of direct food distribution, we provided 1.1 million meals to under served neighbors - those living in rural areas, senior living facilities, food deserts, and communities where our agencies alone simply do not have the capacity to meet the full extent of need. Through 248 distributions over 16,000 individuals were served.
• USDA Commodities – through the USDA Commodities program run by the Department of Agriculture, we provided 1,652,000 meals in FY19 to support those individuals who live under 130% of the Federal Poverty Line.
• SNAP Outreach – in FY19, FSEVA began conducting SNAP Outreach within our network and service area as an additional strategy to enable meals to individuals struggling with Food Insecurity. In FY19, we assisted the completion of 573 SNAP applications with an estimated impact of enabling 487,797 meals by generating an estimated $1,450,990 in SNAP benefits.

For over three decades, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia (FSEVA) has pursued a mission of leading the effort to eliminate hunger in our community. We are a 4-star Charity Navigator organization serving eleven municipalities including the cities of Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Franklin; as well as the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight, and Accomack. This service area spans 4,745 square miles. Since incorporation in 1981, we have distributed over 290 million meals to those facing hunger in Southeastern Virginia and on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Over the past five years, we have distributed an average of 15 million meals to over 160,000 individuals each year. As the region's largest hunger-relief organization, we believe that if we can connect our community's excess food to our community's empty stomachs, together, we can solve hunger. We partner with Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic food assistance network with over 200 member food banks nationally, as well as collaborate with local, regional, and national food manufacturers, retailers, and growers to get food to those who need it most. Acting centrally, we coordinate the distribution of over 1.5 million lbs. of food and grocery products each month. More than 339 community, non-profit, and faith-based Partner Agencies (including food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, shelters, and community centers) receive this product and re-distribute it to those in need in their local area. Our mission is accomplished on a daily basis through a team of 53 staff members here at our primary facility in Norfolk as well as our Eastern Shore branch. Our staff could not get the job done without the 6,500 volunteers who donate their time to the Foodbank each year. With daily opportunities to support our work both at our facilities and out in the community, individuals in our community donate over 42,000 hours of volunteer service annually, the equivalent of 20 full-time positions.

For nearly four decades, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia (FSEVA) has pursued a mission of leading the effort to eliminate hunger in our community. FSEVA serves eleven municipalities including the cities of Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Franklin; as well as the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight, and Accomack. The FSEVA provides food assistance throughout a 4,745 square mile service area. Since incorporation in 1981, we have distributed over 300 million meals to those facing hunger in Southeastern Virginia and on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Over the past five years, we have distributed an average of 15 million meals to over 160,000 individuals each year. FSEVA collects and distributes food through a network of 339 partner agencies and program sites. These partners include faith-based food pantries, soup kitchens, senior living facilities, homeless and domestic violence shelters, public housing complexes, schools, and community centers. The individuals we serve include seniors, children, veterans, homeless and disabled adults, as well as working parents who are underemployed or unemployed and unable to consistently feed their family.

We have made great strides; here are our 2019 results that highlight the successes we achieved together:
• 216,108 meals and snacks served at our 11 Kids Cafe and 16 Summer Feeding sites
• 337,552 meals provided to 3,385 children enrolled in the BackPack Program
• 1.1 million meals distributed through the Mobile Pantry Program
• 5 million pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables distributed
• 5.3 million pounds of food rescued from retail donors and manufacturers
• 6,821 volunteers contributed 46,675 hours of service worth over $1 million
• 16.7 million pounds of food distributed


The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore’s vision is a hunger-free community. Together we can solve hunger.