Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn presented a proclamation to Food for Neighbors on Saturday, Oct. 24, honoring the Vienna-area nonprofit's 10th anniversary of feeding food-insecure students across Northern Virginia.
The organization now serves more than 12,000 middle and high school students at 60 schools, Alcorn said on X. He thanked founder Karen Joseph for building the program.
Food for Neighbors got its start when Joseph, then a PTA president at her son's middle school, learned how many students depended on free and reduced-price lunch programs, according to the organization's website. A school social worker told her that for many students, school meals were their only reliable source of nutrition, leaving them without food on weekends.
Joseph found that while several organizations supported elementary students in similar situations, few resources existed for middle and high schoolers. She and her husband Mark founded Food for Neighbors to fill that gap.
The nonprofit works differently from a traditional food pantry. It partners directly with local schools, providing food supplies that school social workers distribute discreetly to students facing food insecurity, according to the organization. The goal is to get students fed without stigma.
Its core offering is the Red Bag Program. The organization also runs a Holiday Meals Program for Thanksgiving, a Grocery Gift Card Program that helps families shop for groceries including fresh produce, and a Toiletry Program providing hygiene items like toothbrushes and soap.
Across Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties and Falls Church, 96,000 students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, according to Food for Neighbors. In Fairfax County Public Schools alone, more than 64,000 children qualify, representing about 36% of total enrollment. Some partner schools see eligibility rates near 85%.
The organization has grown dramatically. Food for Neighbors originally served about 100 students at Herndon Middle School, WUSA9 reported. By the time WUSA9 profiled the organization, volunteers were preparing more than 1,000 food bags every weekend for 20 schools across Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
Pipi Harrison, director of student services at Bryant High School, described the partnership's purpose during a visit by the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. "We interrupt their worries about how they are getting their next meal," Harrison said, according to a CFNOVA profile. "We interrupt children's need to drop out."
Food for Neighbors is also a recipient of the Community Foundation's Lamond Fund grant. Residents interested in volunteering or donating can visit foodforneighbors.org.
