‘Hunger is Scary’ fundraiser to benefit Northern Virginia Food Rescue

Northern Virginia Food Rescue will hold its first annual fundraiser, “Hunger is Scary.”

The event is timed with Halloween and comes as the holiday season approaches, historically the most challenging time for those in need to put food on the table. Rising inflation drove up food prices by more than 10% in the past year, and nearly half of area households with children experienced some food of food insecurity last year.

The non-profit, founded in 2020, works to provide food for the hungry in our area by working with restaurants and grocery stores to pick up unused food and deliver it to those in need. Last year, the food rescue provided 13.4 million meals to the hungry.

The non-profit also assemble backpacks full of easy-to-prepare foods, like ravioli, or granola bars, for families and distributes boxes of food from the Capital Area Food Bank to those in need.

The organization has also diverted 100,000 pounds of unused food from the Dale City Farmers Market from the trash and into to mouths of the hungry. “Farmers understand that they want to feed people, and they don’t want that food to go to waste,” said Northern Virginia Food Rescue Interim Director Erika Spalding.

At least 40% of food at restaurants and grocery stores is tossed into trash before it’s eaten, added Spalding. When the food rescue steps in, used food goes to families, feeds animals at area farms, or is turned into compost.

The fundraiser will be held at the Northern Virginia Food Rescue Warehouse, 10535 Battleview Parkway, near Manassas, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 26, from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets sold online are $50 each and include two drinks. There will also be food, a silent auction, and plenty of mingling, said Spalding.

Northern Virginia Food Rescue evolved from Prince William Food Rescue, formerly a program of ACTS. It worked to feed residents across the region in the days before and during the coronavirus pandemic.