Les Sinclair of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank tells us how we can help them this year

As we approach the time of year where we all consider what we have to be grateful for, we asked our friend from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Les Sinclair, to talk to us about the kind of need our population has for the food bank, and ways we can help them.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, it's last Hey, Less, how are you, buddy? It's
Chris Mitchel from Q one O two. Hi Chris and fantastic, Thanks very
much for calling. Absolutely so wewanted to know everyone. So you know,
Less is our buddy with the BlueRidge Area Food Bank, and we
wanted to know this time of year, everybody starts thinking about it, just
because we're always talking about how gratefulwe are for what we've got, and

(00:24):
we really have begun thinking about folkswho aren't quite as lucky as we are,
who might be hungry this time ofyear. And Less, we thought
you were the guy to ask,how can we help? What can we
do? Well, that's an easysolution. The help is really with your
listeners, Chris. It really ispeople helping their community members thrive. And

(00:47):
they can do that by volunteering.They can do that by hosting a food
or fund drive, and they cando that by donating themselves. And those
three things are but I can alsouse the voice four things they can do
and advocate for hunger relief In thegovernment. The twenty twenty three Farm Bill
is up for is up for reauthorization, and it's important that they have things

(01:14):
in there that will help food banksand farmers so that people who are food
insecure will have the things that theyneed. Can we talk about food insecurity
for a minute. First off,can you define what that means. Yeah,
it's a government term and it reallymeans that people have access to enough
food to lead a healthy, activelife. And are we looking at a

(01:38):
what portion of our population here inthe valley is food insecure? Well,
I can tell you that one intwelve people are food insecure in Virginia.
And your area is really unique becauseit's got on one end, it's got
Loudon County, which is really denselypopulated, and then on the other end
it's got more rural areas like Shenandoaand even parts of Frederick and Clark that

(02:01):
are more rural as well. Andwhat we know is while a lot of
folks equate food and security to beingan urban problem, we know that people
in rural areas are more likely tobe food insecure. Wow, I did
not know that we're more likely herein a rural area. Well, so
we want to help because we've gotsuch generous people here in Shanandoah Country.

(02:24):
And you know, I've always saidif there's a problem all we have to
do is tell the folks in ShnandoahCountry here and they rally. They truly
do. They just need to knowwhere to go and what to do.
So one of the things you saidwas they need to maybe volunteer. So
when you say volunteer, does thatnecessarily mean show up at the soup kitchen

(02:46):
on Thanksgiving? Or what does thatentail? It does mean that it means
if that's something that is important toyou. We encourage folks to volunteer with
our partners. We have over fourhundred partners in programs throughout our Blue Ridge
region and I can tell you thatvolunteering with the food bank, we can't
do what we do. We havea massive scale. We're able to help

(03:07):
provide four meals with a single dollar, and we couldn't have that if we
didn't have volunteers who were doing thework for us. And so volunteering is
so important and you can find outmore about that on our website. In
fact, you can find out aboutall of these things on our website ATAFB
dot org. It's the acronym orBlue Ridge Area Food Bank and if you

(03:30):
need help, you can find itthere as well. So can you unpack
it just a little bit for us. What would volunteering look like. Well,
we have folks who come to ourwarehouses and they help pack emergency food
boxes. So anyone who comes tothe food bank, we'll leave with food,
and then we encourage them to goto a partner food pantry nearby so
that they can get better food,more food, and have access to food

(03:53):
that's close to them. They mightbe resorting food, so we buy stuff
in bulk, like you dge.A fifty pound bag of carrots isn't going
to do one person very good,but we'll have folks come in and resort
that down into like a three poundbag of carrots. And they will also
help maintain our facilities as well.I mean they do some cleaning for us

(04:15):
where we pride ourselves on being areally healthy operation and we want to make
sure that everything that comes in isclean and everything that goes out as clean.
I never would have thought about that, but of course you do,
of course, So that's one ofthe things that we could do. Another
you said, put together a party. What was that? Oh? Yeah,
sure. There is a great resourceon our website where you can start

(04:39):
a food or fun driver. Fellowyou know, you'll see these things where
people are on Facebook and they say, hey, I'm trying to raise money
for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bankand go to this website and donate in
my name for my birthday. Andthat's very that's very active, and it's
also helpful to us because, asI said, one dollar or helped provide

(05:00):
four meals, so we can turnthat one dollar into something really scalable.
I always wondered, you know,you see those on Facebook when it's been
it's your birthday or whatever. Yousee them, and I wondered if they
actually did generate any money. Itlooks like they do. They do,
actually, yes, and if youuse the tools on our website, it
will come directly to us. That'sexcellent and that sounds like something fun that

(05:23):
you could do. That's also kindof like if you've got preteens or teens,
it's a real teachable moment, sayyou know, let's let's do this
and see what we can raise tohelp other people. I think that's just
a terrific thing to do. So, okay, that's the one and the
two. What was the third onethat you mentioned? Well, there's advocacy
and that is really just reaching outto the local elected officials and make sure

(05:48):
that there's legislation to help people whoare in the For us, specifically,
it would be those who are foodand secure. One in twelve people,
one in twelve children in Virginia arefood insecure, and by reaching out to
the politicians and helping them understand thisis something that's important to you, it
will make a difference. Then itbecomes important to them. And you also

(06:12):
mentioned that we can just plane donate. Everybody likes the feeling they get when
they get some groceries, get someextra stuff and bring it to the food
bank. So what are we lookingat there? I know that there are
specific parameters, right well, wereally want to make sure that what people
are donating, if we're talking aboutfood, is really just what you would
give to your family. Cleaning outyour cupboard and giving us four year old

(06:36):
cans of expired food is not agreat idea. It really is more beneficial
because we want people to be ableto use. We want our guests to
be able to use the food that'sgiven to them, and so it's a
wonderful moment. Where As you mentioned, a teachable moment, you can teach
your kids to give a vocan offood, which might then later become five

(06:58):
dollars, which turns into twenty meals. To do the math. So all
of those ways to donate are wonderful. I do utterly love and I repeat
this over and over on the air, especially this time of year, but
there are other time of year thatit applies. Right, you guys,
you work magic. You can takea one dollar bill and turn that into
four meals, even now, evenwith the inflation, even with the price

(07:21):
is so high. I'm stunned bythat. But this is the economy of
scale, right, you got itexactly. It is the economy of scale.
And I'll give you another way thatyou can maximize that even more.
You can really have an impact withyour donation because if you're wait until Giving
Tuesday, wind River Chimes in yourarea has given off a match and so

(07:43):
your one dollar helps provide eight mealson Giving Tuesday, which is the twenty
eight we love. We love businessesthat do that. And you know what,
it's sometimes generous people, but moreoften it is generous businesses and local
businesses. And again here on theshow, for as many years as we've
been here now over two decades,we've been stressing you need to shop local.

(08:07):
Maybe not for everything, but whenyou shop at a local store,
this is what happens with some ofyour dollars. It goes right back into
the community. And this is agreat match. So again on Giving Tuesday,
and we'll remind everybody, you spendone dollar at you donate one buck
to the Blue Ridgerry Food Bank.And because of this gift, this donation,

(08:30):
this match, your dollar becomes twoand your four meals become eight.
And that's incredible. Who is thatdoing that again? That's wind River Chimes
and they are a fantastic partner ofthe food bank. They care about those
sorts of things, and we've gotmany of those throughout your listening area,
Chris. They are just wonderful.As you said, the businesses, they
get together and they'll often do matches. You know, someone in an employee

(08:54):
will say, hey, boss,I want to do a fundraiser for the
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and theywill match that. So businesses are really
important, as are the individuals.So look, I've got a question for
you less and by the way,if you're just joining us, Les Sinclair
is our friend at the Blue RidgeArea Food bank, and we're thinking about
people who are going hungry. Maybehere at this time of year, we

(09:16):
think about how lucky we are.So if we were like at our work
and we're hearing this now and welook at each other and we think,
hey, you know what, maybewe do that. Maybe we put together
a match. I wonder if ourboss would do that. If there is
a boss out there listening right now, who wants to create a match like

(09:37):
that, how do they go aboutthat? Who do they contact? Well,
they can really do it themselves withintheir organization and side that and then
bring it to us, or theycan just reach out for our website.
There's an easy to find contact usportal on brafb dot org and they can
get in touch with us at thefood Bank and we'll make sure that we
walk them through the process really easily. I was wondering how many guests do

(10:01):
you have with the Blue Ridge AreaFood Bank and all the pantries that you
support, about how many people doyou think depend on you? How many
guests do we have in your areain the northern region we have we're serving
approximately forty three thousand people every singlemonth, and overall that's about one hundred

(10:24):
and twenty seven five hundred people.If you want a picture of this,
Chris, imagine this line of peopleabout thirty miles long, standing shoulder to
shoulder, men, women and children. It's thirty miles long. It's from
Winchester to Cheez the almost Harrisonburg.I think. So it's a long line

(10:45):
and it's a lot of folks.The good news is that there are a
lot of good folks listening now andthey will make a difference. They will
help shorten that line. Oh,you have no idea less. I'm telling
you right now, our listeners arethe greatest in the world. I've been
able to brag on them for twentythree years, and I will keep bragging
on them because they are just whatyou said, good people. And that's
what will happen. I guarantee youright now, there are people listening thinking,

(11:09):
you know what I can do this. If you think just sparing a
couple of bucks is going to buyfour meals for each dollar, that's insane.
And that's why we always stress.You know. I know it feels
good to donate the cans, rightit really does, but it would be
even better if you donated money.And that's the reason why you can buy
so much, but with their economyof scale, they can buy just a

(11:33):
ton more. Right, Oh,Chris, I can't believe how well informed
you are. Thank you very muchfor that. Yet it's so right on
the money that's provided, even thenominal amounts of just like you said,
a dollar, if you get onehundred thousand people donating a dollar, it's
one hundred thousand dollars. That's helpingprovide four hundred thousand meals. That's almost

(11:54):
half a million meals. That's crazy. So whatever you can donate eight that's
the best thing to do. Ifthey have money right now, how do
they donate it to you? Howdo they get it in your hands?
Well, the easiest way is reallythrough our website. Just go to brafb
dot org and there's a big greendonate button or give now button on the

(12:16):
front page and you can fill thatout securely and it'll come to us and
we will maximize your money less.I tell you, there are a lot
of folks I have talked to overthese many years who have said to me,
and they come up and they'll say, you know what, I never
ever thought i'd need a food bank, but I did. And they saved

(12:37):
my family. We were in areal rough patch or what have you,
and they are very quick to donate. What is the typical guest that you
have, Well, I think thereis no typical guest, but I can
tell you your scenario is right on. I think a lot of folks remember
the pandemic when there were lines ofcars because people just simply lost their jobs

(12:58):
and lost their paycheck. That's anotherthing is coming around the possibility of a
government shutdown in your area. Youhave a lot of federal employees. We've
got seven over seven thousand in ourregion, and that means that they're not
going to have a paycheck, andif they don't have money put aside for
this, they're going to have toturn to a food provider like the Blue

(13:18):
Ridge Area Food Bank and its partnersto help them get through what will be
a short time, but it willbe needed to help them get through.
So there is no typical person.I think those long lines still exist.
We're seeing as many or more peoplenow than during the height of the pandemic,
Chris, and so we never knowwhat a person looks like, and

(13:41):
that's why it's called a quiet crisis. The people look like you and me,
and they might be going through arough patch right now. Well you
know you say that. And Iremember very distinctly one woman she came up
to me and this was gosh,this was after eight nine, remember when
the world of fell apart financially,And she said that she had she had

(14:05):
needed the services of the food bank, and she said, I just I
felt I felt so ashamed going thereand asking for food. And I said,
are you kidding me? There's noshame in that. You're feeding your
family. You're taking care of yourfamily right now, and it's this thing
the food bank. Look at itlike this, It's this amazing thing that
we can all contribute to and whenwe need it, it's there for us,

(14:28):
right And that's the way you gotto look at this. There's no
shame in feeding your family, mygod, no, absolutely not. We
are fortunate to have it. Andit's when you are doing well you should
look at the blessings you've gotten.That's why I always bring it up at
Thanksgiving, because you know that's whatwe're doing. We go around the table,
what are you thankful for? Whatare you grateful for? If you

(14:48):
are living in a world where youcan I know everybody goes. Groceries are
expensive. If you can buy themand feed your family, you're in a
good place. If you're a littlebetter off than that, you know what,
make a donation again, it doesn'thave to be huge to make a
big impact, and you can dothat by going to the website, which
is brafb dot org and the linkis right there and it's super easy.

(15:13):
And maybe that's something you do whenyou're at the Thanksgiving table. Maybe you
look at each other and say,hey, look, we just had a
great meal. Why don't we allcough up ten bucks, and you know
what, look at what you'll haveand you can donate that. There's never
a lack of need, am Iright? Oh yeah, sure, are
right? And there is never Isthere any time when it slows down?

(15:37):
I'm guessing no. Well, especiallythis year, no inflation has impacted everyone.
Everyone feels it every time you goto the grocery store, and so
you can imagine that folks living onthe margins really feeling it. And so
this help that you're inviting people togive is really wonderful. Chris, and

(15:58):
I love that you're taking away thestigma too. That's one of the things
that keeps people from coming. AndI want them to know that if they
have a need for food, theycan get it and they are not taking
away from anyone else. We haveplenty of food that's just so wonderful to
hear. If you need it,it's there. And look, you can

(16:19):
contribute when you're back on your feed. We know this isn't a permanent thing
for you. You're going to getright back up, Go go do it,
feed your family, get some wonderfulfood, healthy food, good food.
It's the Blue Ridge Area Food Bankhelping so many folks in Shenandoah Country
for so many years. Now.Do you know how long you guys have
been around? Yeah? Forty twoyears this year. Oh wow, that's

(16:42):
impressive. That is really impressive.So how long have you been with the
food bank? A couple of yearsnow, right, it's almost a couple
of years. Yeah, yes,that's almost a couple of years now.
And I learned something new every day. And I really tell you that the
people that I get to interact withour guests and our partner pantries are just

(17:03):
amazing individuals and they are really whatkeep the wheels turning. And it's an
honor to serve them well less Igot a question for you. Now,
when you did arrive at the foodbank to start working, there's what's something
that really surprised you that you weren'texpecting maybe or you didn't know, or
maybe came into focus for you.Well, I think that's it seems really

(17:30):
easy. Food comes in, foodgoes out. That's a food bank.
It's not. It's very complex.And I think that along with the first
time I went to one of ourmobile food pantries and I saw the line
of cars very much like I wouldhave seen during the pandemic, which was
understandable because so many people were outof work. But even now that line

(17:53):
of cars isn't making the nightly news, but it is still there. And
the need at least for us,has grown year over year since from last
year to this year, up toone hundred and twenty seven five hundred people.
That's a lot of folks. That'sstunning, and that's every month too.
That's the scary parts. Wow,I have a hard time even picturing

(18:15):
that many people. And so that'sreally indicative of what's going on right now,
and it's also indicative of the needthey have for you to make a
donation and it's not hard to do. Again, you go to br AFB
dot org. That's b r AFBBlue Ridge Areyfoodbank dot org and you can

(18:37):
make a donation click click, andeveryone knows how easy that is. Certainly
you're on you're on your tablet,your phone at night, tap tapping to
spend money. Right you're on theAmazon or whatever it might happen to be
this time. You can spend yourmoney and make a real difference in the
life of families like yours, kidslike yours, who might otherwise go hungry.

(19:00):
This is real deal stuff. AndI know we trot it out here
at Thanksgiving because you know, becausebut boy, while we're thinking about what
we have to be grateful for andmaybe how we can change the world,
that little tap tap, while you'resitting on the sofa drink and jardinay,
that tap tap can mean the worldto a family who's in need right now.

(19:22):
And God forbid you need it oneday, but it'll be there for
you too, and God bless youfor donating. So last of what else
is there to talk about when wetalk about the food bank? Well,
I think really just the importance ofpeople helping. You know, you're talking
about giving, and that really themoney is so important, especially around these

(19:42):
food holidays when people are really thinkingabout it. But hunger exists in every
zip code in the United States,every zip code in Shenandoah Country there Chris,
and that is something that I thinkpeople don't realize. It is a
quiet crisis. It's not right therein face like so many other things in

(20:03):
the world that are just jumping rightat you. And so one in twelve
people are food and secure right nowin your area. And that means that
you can make a difference. Andif you don't have money, then volunteering
is also a great way to helpmake a difference. It really is.
I have found in my life thatvolunteering is so meaningful. You will take

(20:26):
the way you feel and you willlearn something by the way when you're volunteering
anywhere. But you'll take the wayyou feel and you will keep that like
that that doesn't go away. That'snew knowledge, a new perspective. It's
sort of like when you travel,you know, it's an education. When
you volunteer, it's an education.It's something that changes you for the better,

(20:48):
always for the better. And Ithink it would be terrific to volunteer
someplace like your local food bank,like the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank,
So those opportunities are out there.If they want to find out about the
volunteering opportunities, they go to thewebsite that's it BRFB dot org. And
if you can't volunteer with the BlueRidge Area Food Bank our warehouse, there

(21:11):
are distribution center there in Winchester.Find another organization within the community like fish
or Clark County or Sea Captain Winchester, or use our food finder tool on
our website that'll help you locate apantry that might be really close to you
and you can give your time tothem as well. That's also where you
find the pantry that can help youout right, You're exactly right. The

(21:33):
food Finder tool is a wonderful way. You just open it up, you
type in your zip code or youraddress, and I'll give you all the
food pantries that are close by theirhours and contact information so you could call
in advance and make sure that they'reopen when you need them. So,
are there any foods that you'd kindof frown on don't want to see coming

(21:53):
to the food bank, Well,any perishable food is not a good idea.
And we don't glass because the glassestendency to break and if you put
it in with cans, then itbreaks and it gets all over everything.
But pretty much anything good quality.We're looking for healthy stuff. You know,
our gas really are health conscious andthey might have an underlying disease that

(22:18):
they need to watch their diet for. So low sodium, will salt,
the high protein always good things togive. Never thought about that, the
low sodium. So many people arestriving to It's not easy, by the
way, to cut down on yourAsSalt, if you've ever tried doing it.
But yeah, there are a lotof people with dietary restrictions, and
that is that's a really that's aterrific thing. Now this will seem like

(22:38):
an odd question. I'll ask itanyway. You do not involve yourself with
pet food, Is that right?Bill? Occasionally we will get pet food
and folks will come to a pantryor the food bank and we'll have that
available. It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes a big donation of pet

(22:59):
food will come in and it willget distributed out to And let me ask
you this, how about babies?Is formula okay, is baby food.
Okay, it is. It's gotto be within date. It really formed.
Baby formula in particular is really reallystrict standards, as you can imagine,
So we would source that rather thandonating it, I believe is probably

(23:22):
the easiest thing. You may beable to donate that to a local pantry,
however, but always you know thereare baby products like diapers and feminine
hygiene products and that sort of thing. They can be donated as well,
because we'll ship those out to ourpantries and our partners and will make sure
that that stuff gets put to use. I'm always so delighted when I see

(23:44):
a difference being made, and Ican always tell you that when we talk
about things like this, I willsay it again. If there is a
problem, I run it up theflagpole. I've just got a big mouth.
But if I tell people about ourlisteners rally and they they really do,
they will take care of these folksbecause it's always been neighbor helping neighbor

(24:06):
here in Shenandoah Country. That's howwe do it in the country. It's
neighbor helping neighbor, and you neverknow when you might need that help yourself.
So I feel very good less abouttalking to you today and getting this
message out there about what the BlueRidge Area of Food Bank needs and what
they're looking for and how we canhelp you to help our neighbors. And

(24:29):
is there anything else that we've forgottento talk about or that maybe we should
touch on. I think really justthe fact that Giving Tuesday is coming up
and you can really double your donationon Giving Tuesday with the Blue Ridge Area
Food Bank. And the fact thatChris, I'll just say that I'm just
such a huge fan of radio.When you talk about your listeners coming out

(24:52):
making a difference and force, Ibelieve that is so true. You guys
really have a connection with your listeners, and I just think it's fantastic that
you're talking with me today. Sothank you very much for that. Well,
thank you. This is Les Sinclair. He works with the Blue Ridge
Area Food Bank. He's our buddythere and we check in with him from
time to time. I know you'veheard several times over the course of the

(25:15):
year about a drive or something specifichappening, and he's the guy who tells
me about him and then I justrun my mouth about it. And he's
doing great work, So is everybodythere. How many people have you got
working at the food bank by theway, there are approximately seventy and they
are spread from Winchester to Lynchburg.We've got a headquarters in Verona and another

(25:37):
distribution center in Charletsville and then onein Lynchburg as well. Wow, that
is such an operation. That's amazing. Well, yeah, it's a big
operation, about twelve thousand square milesoutsize of Maryland if you're keeping track.
Wow, that's a lot of people. Less. I'm so glad that you
guys are there for us taking careof us at the Blue Ridge Area Food

(26:00):
Bank, and thank you again forjoining us today and telling us all about
it. Listen, gang, makea difference, even if it's just a
couple bucks. Blue Ridge Area Foodbankdot org. You go there b r
AFB dot org. You can goright there and find a food bank near
you where you can go and takeadvantage of food for your family, help

(26:23):
your own family out, or ifyou're in a great position, you can
help the food bank out. Andwe hope you'll do that. And thank
you God, blessed well less,Thank you again so much. Have a
great rest of your day, buddy, Thank you, Chris appreciate you very much.