KIDS HELPING KIDS!

 

Virginia Music Adventures is partnering with Food for Others in sponsoring food drives during the 2009/2010 season to benefit Food for Others, a local non-profit food bank and food rescue operation serving Northern Virginia. Please join us to help feed the hungry and help children in our community

 

At each public performance during the 2009/2010 season, VMA encourages community members to bring non perishable food items to donate to help Food for Others keep their shelves stocked throughout the coming year.  All food collected will help Food for Others to supply emergency food to those in need.  Food for Others is working hard to serve our community and help a growing number of families who are food insecure. Food insecure families are so limited in their resources to buy food that they are running out of food, reducing the quality of their food, cutting out meat, feeding their children unbalanced meals, or skipping meals so that their children can eat.

 

                Here are some startling statistics about hunger in Northern Virginia:

 

·  Poverty and hunger exist in Northern Virginia. Even though Northern Virginia is considered one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country, we still face a poverty rate of 5%. This means, based on US Census figures, that 90,183 persons are living in poverty, 30% of who are children.

 

·  To be above the poverty line in Fairfax County, the average family (two adults and two children) needs an income five times the minimum wage.

 

·  In Fairfax County, 18.6% of the enrolled student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch programs. In Arlington County, the percentage is even greater at 42.7%.

 

The goal of Food for Others is to provide free food to those in need, while working to eliminate hunger and food insecurity in Northern Virginia. 

 

While Virginia Music Adventures’ ambassadors have been privileged to represent the Northern Virginia community locally, regionally, and internationally on 5 different continents over the past five years, VMA is particularly pleased to help Food for Others support children and their family’s right here in our local community.

 

Here’s how you can help:

 

1.        Donate Funds. For an official Financial Donation Form, please e-mail Food Drive Coordinator Jeff Cummins at www.VaMusicAdventures.org or contact Food for others at www.foodforothers.org.  For every dollar raised, 96¢ goes to emergency food programs.

 

2.        Donate non-perishable foods in the marked boxes at any of our concerts this season. Food for Others is in serious need of the following:

 

€  Canned Fruit                       €  Peanut butter and jelly

€  Cereal                                 €  Beans – dried or canned

€  Macaroni and Cheese         €  Pasta and Pasta Sauces

€         Rice                                 €  Fruit Juice

€  Canned tuna, ham, chicken, turkey or beef