Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was appeared in The Floyd Press on September 22, 2011

The new Plenty! Fresh Food Bank is located on Webbs Mill Road in the garage adjacent to the Plenty! office and Community Garden.  The Food Bank will provide canned and fresh food to individuals and food pantries in Floyd in addition to the surplus produce that Plenty! already provides to the community.

Willis resident Martha Bowers (center), along with her husband Jimmie, was one of the volunteers who helped set up the new Plenty! Food Bank. Here, Bowers introduces Brenda Weeks, who is inquiring about volunteering, to Plenty! co-director Karen Day (left).

Tara Milligan from Americorps Vista coordinates hunger relief programs in the New River Valley. Milligan (pictured far right) poses with a group from Virginia Tech’s SERVE (Students Engaged and Responding through Volunteer Experiences) who she invited to attend the Plenty! Food Bank opening.

Refreshments made with local food were served and attendees gathered for a blessing circle.  Floyd resident Nii Anang (center), a native of West Africa and one of the evening’s drummers, led the group in a blessing.

Food Bank donations have already begun arriving.  Plenty! co-director McCabe Coolidge (pictured to the right in grey shirt and khaki pants) said the non-profit group recently joined Feeding America and were able to purchase snacks for Plenty!’s Healthy Snacks school program at a greatly reduced price.

Note: Watch a video of the Food Bank opening HERE and HERE.  Visit the Plenty! website HERE.