Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce held its first annual Community Day on April 11 by volunteering at Feeding Southwest Virginia. The event was held to further the chamber’s mission to foster a connected and supportive community. It united chamber members from various businesses and organizations for a team-building experience while supporting Feeding Southwest Virginia’s work to address food insecurity.
Feeding Southwest Virginia said that it receives over 546,000 pounds of donated food. It relies on over 2,000 volunteers to inspect, clean and organize the food to distribute it to more than 260 partner agencies managing food assistance programs in 26 Southwest Virginia counties.
“The Community Day underscores the Salem-RoCo Chamber’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and community engagement while offering chamber members a unique opportunity to give back and strengthen connections with fellow businesses. Members who were unable to attend still supported the cause through the Salem-RoCo Chamber’s peanut butter collection drive,” the chamber said.
The chamber had over two dozen member companies volunteer and many more contributed to the collection. It raised over 1,700 pounds of peanut butter to help fill the shelves of community food pantries across the Feeding Southwest Virginia footprint. The chamber had over 40 volunteers that came out to help sort, wipe down and organize food donations.
“We had a productive and fun afternoon and then continued the comradery at Parkway Brewing Co to celebrate with our April Business After Hours,” Amanda Livingston, executive director of the chamber, said. “I am beyond proud to work with a group of professionals that are generous with their time and generous with their resources. We look forward to doing this again.”
Courtesy photos
