The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently donated a tractor truckload of food to Feeding America Southwest Virginia. The food was equivalent to $22,542 and will provide more than 16,600 meals to those in need in southwest Virginia.

Feeding America Southwest Virginia President and CEO Pamela Irvine stated, “Donations were much needed because many of our shelves are emptier than usual. The shelves may be empty as a result of distributors donating the much-needed food to areas hit hard by natural disasters.” Irvine continued, “The Church donated flour, tuna, canned vegetables, pears, rice, pasta and more. Those are items that we do not get donated frequently.”

Kevin Bohon, a local area leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, stated, “We know we do have a lot of neighbors around that do have great needs. We just hope this brings them a little bit of joy and happiness and that is what we want to share.”

The donations were part of Virginia’s “Day to Serve” program. This program was designated five years ago as a time to “feed the hungry, clean up neighborhoods and improve communities” along with service activities. Donations were loaded on the tractor-trailer truck in Salt Lake City and personally delivered not only to the Salem food bank, but also other food banks located in Virginia.

-Jennifer Brown