COMMUNITY FEEDING TASKFORCE
WHO WE ARE
The Community Feeding Taskforce is a partnership between Northern Virginia Food Rescue and Prince William County Government, begun in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this taskforce is to increase the access and availability of food in Prince William County. Currently this is being accomplished through three programs, the Prince William Food Rescue Warehouse, the Prince William County Food Helpline, and food purchasing with American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Prince William Food Rescue (PWFR) Warehouse
At the PWFR Warehouse bulk donations of food and purchased food are received, broken down, and then sent out to food pantry partners throughout Prince William County.
Food Helpline
The Community Feeding Taskforce runs a Food Helpline for residents of the county to connect to their local food pantry and receive food delivered to their home if they are not able to get to a food pantry.
Food Purchasing
With American Rescue Plan Act funding the Community Feeding Taskforce is currently buying needed food in bulk and distributing it to qualifying organizations in Greater Prince William.
WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS
Our warehouse prides itself in never saying “no” to any donation because with a network of 70+ partners in Prince William County and 100+ in the region, nothing will ever go to waste.
At our warehouse we have volunteers and staff daily to break down the bulk donations we receive and deliver it to our food distribution partners. If you distribute food in Prince William County and want to connect to our network, email us at pwfrdistributor@nova-fr.org.
If you work with a trucking company and have a pallets of food rejected from the buyer, don’t take it to a landfill! Call our warehouse to drop it off with us!
FOOD HELPLINE
We manage a Food Helpline for Greater Prince William residents to call when in need of food. Our helpline currently works on a voicemail system, so it is open 24/7. Residents can call in and leave their information and our staff with get back to them within one business day. Our staff will send them a link to all the food pantries in the area (click here for the map) so that they can be connected to their local pantry. If the resident does not have transportation to get to a food pantry a direct delivery of food will be set-up via our app to get food to their doorstep within a business day.
WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM
Our backpack program was created in response to the increase of students in Prince William County who were experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic. For some of these children, the meals that they receive at school may be the only food that they will be able to eat that day with little to eat at home over the weekend. Our program provides nutritious food that children can easily prepare. Email pwfrvolunteer@nova-fr.org to get your school involved or to find out how to best support this program.
