To the Mason Neck Community:
Great story from the New York Times regarding our local LCAC supporter Rebecca Geller turning her garage into a satellite food bank! Congratulation to the Geller family, the LCAC and all who contribute and support her and LCAC!
From The New York Times
Real Estate Section
By Debra Kamin
May 20, 2020
(Redacted to note local LCAC story re: Rebecca Geller - full story link below)
The Garage Saves the Day
Where to turn when you need a spot for an ice rink, a swimming pool, an exercise studio, a romantic cafe or even a satellite food bank.
Some people are using the garages as headquarters for community outreach. In Virginia, Rebecca Geller, 40, has transformed hers into a satellite food pantry. Ms. Geller, a lawyer, is a longtime regular volunteer at the Lorton Community Action Center, a local food bank in Fairfax County. Her husband, Brad Cheney, 40, and their three children, Sam, 11, Noah, 9, and Emily, 6, often join her.
When schools in Virginia closed on March 13, Ms. Geller knew that many children dependent on school meals would likely go hungry, and LCAC, with most of its staff working remotely, wouldn't have the capacity for regular food deliveries. So she drew up an Amazon wish list and distributed it to her network of friends and family, asking for donations of nonperishable food items to be delivered directly to her home.
The response was overwhelming. About 100 boxes of donated food are now delivered to the Geller home daily. The Geller-Cheney family has been focused primarily on creating snack bags for kids, usually consisting of juice or milk, granola bars, rolled fruit leather and crackers. They are sheltering in place with a family across the street, and together, the seven kids and four adults are packing around 800 snack bags a week.
Once a week, LCAC sends a truck to collect the snack bags, then distributes them to low-income people and families across the southeastern part of the county. The food and the resealable storage bags they are packed into are all donated; Ms. Geller, who is president of the Geller Law Group, says her firm is also matching donation amounts dollar for dollar.
In total, the food bank estimates that the Geller-Cheney garage has processed more than 10,000 snack bags over the past two months. They've also distributed hundreds of cans of tuna, soup and other nonperishables.
Ms. Geller said the effort has had another positive effect: It has kept her children happy and occupied. "It amazes me when I find my kids in the garage making snack packs on their own," she said. "We have a lot of conversations about the fact that our family is fortunate, we still have steady income, and they don't need to worry where their next meal is coming from. And they've always volunteered at the pantry. But now it's become part of their every day."
