Demand up, donations down at Henrico Community Food Bank

Four years after its founding, the Henrico Community Food Bank is serving a growing population of food-insecure county residents, even as donations take a dive because of economic uncertainty and rising prices for goods and food.

HCFB founder and Executive Director Sudeshna Das-Menezes had been a long-time employee of Feed More when she started HCFB in 2021 with her husband, Floyd, seeing the need for an organization whose primary goal was to support food access on a continuous basis, in contrast with many other public-facing pantries in Henrico.

“The genesis really was having an organization or laying the seed for an organization that would be a resource for the citizens of Henrico County, not only as a Monday through Friday operation, but evenings and weekend hours too,” Das-Menezes said.

The organization’s five-room operation sits in the quiet Central Gardens community of Eastern Henrico in what once was an elementary school and, most recently, the Math and Science Innovation Center site. The location does not allow for walk-up distribution; instead, HCFB volunteers deliver food directly to those in need and also host a series of sporadic distribution events throughout the year, including summer backpack food handouts targeting Henrico County Public School students and other giveaways at holiday times.

One such event took place recently, on Sept. 13, when HCFB volunteers hosted a community distribution event at a Latter Day Saints church on Pump Road in the Far West End, providing about 200 families with one bag of free pantry supplies each. In total, HCFB typically provides a full bag of groceries each week to about 150 clients.

Doing more with less

Henrico is home to an estimated 30,000 people who experience food insecurity, according to the organization.

Many recipients of HCFB assistance are referred to the organization through the help line for Feed More (Central Virginia’s primary food bank) or through Henrico County Social Services' many programs. HCFB recipient numbers have grown steadily in the organization's brief existence; it served about 800 clients in Fiscal Year 2022, 10 times that many in FY 2023, more than 17,000 in FY 2024 and nearly 25,000 in FY 2025.

Three months into a new fiscal year, the number of clients already has jumped up 36% from the same timeframe last year. The amount of food distributed – both shelf stable and perishable – also has increased, but donations are down.

HCFB is roughly a $500,000-a-year operation. The organization does not receive any federal grants or support and relies upon donations and contributions from Henrico County and other foundational and individual donors.

So how does HCFB manage increased demand with less funding? According to Das-Menezes, through a combination of heavy community volunteer involvement and a well-managed operation.

“This past year, we did more with a lot less,” Das-Menezes said. “One of the biggest things for us is how do we continue to sustain a program which clearly is very needed. Everything runs with money. It’s very rare that we’d be able to get all the foods donated that you need every single month to feed your 600-plus households, and that number continues to grow. So it is really important for us to look at sustainability.”

During a typical week, the organization orders close to 2,500 pounds of shelf-stable and perishable products. After its founding, it started out by distributing from the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, with donations from Kroger and Mondelez.

Now, with minimal questions to the recipients about their eating habits and a verified Henrico address, staffers (and a sometimes-changing team of volunteers, many of whom speak multiple languages), deliver bags of shelf stable food, perishables, produce and protein to Henrico homes every single day.

Some clients are available during the daytime hours, others (considered the "working poor") are working jobs. Drivers with no particular markings indicating the delivery is from a food bank make the deliveries when those in need are home.

“We are able to hone in on what their needs are, what their availability is, what kind of household are we serving, who are we serving?” Das-Menezes said. “And most importantly, we are not bound by any ZIP code in Henrico County. We get clients from everyone – Department of Social Services, Feed More, Henrico Mental Health, USCIS, Safe Harbor, you name it, doctor's offices, insurance companies and community health workers. It's not unusual for us to get up to 20 or 25 calls a day.”

By delivering directly to residents’ homes – thanks to volunteer drivers – the organization has been able to grow and serve more people in need, Das-Menezes said.

“That makes a huge difference for our seniors and for single parents,” she said.
Volunteers include multi-generational helpers, including members of the Youth Corps program as young as five, who help their parents during community distributions. Every spring, the Youth Corps volunteers also plant and tend the HCFB’s garden, which grows produce that ultimately is distributed in the weekly grocery bags.

Some pockets of Henrico 'have much higher food insecurity than others'

HCFB is one of 10 partner food pantries in Henrico in Feed More’s distribution network, which collectively comprise less than 3% of Feed More’s 380 distribution partners throughout the region. (Those totals do not account for the impact made by Feed More’s Meals on Wheels program, which delivers food to elderly recipients).

“When it comes to Henrico, there is growing food insecurity need that's happening throughout the community,” said David Waidelich, Feed More’s chief collaboration and programs officer. “When we think of Henrico, it's very clear that there are pockets that have much higher food insecurity than others.”

During the past few years, food insecurity in Henrico has risen from about 8% of the population to about 11.5%, according to data tracked by Feed More. This week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported the consumer price index increased to 2.9% this August – up by 0.4% from last August and by 0.2% from this July, which was its biggest jump since January. The effect: higher prices for needed goods, whose prices also are being impacted in some cases by the implementation of new tariffs.

“The general cost of living is high,” said Das-Menezes. “Prices are high from last year to last week to this week. Gas prices have already gone up like 10 cents. The cost of housing is high. We all know affordable housing is an issue. Rents are going up. Grocery store prices have been up. The job market is a little tight."

The USDA defines food insecurity as not having consistent access to healthy food to live an active life. This year to date, Feed More officials have made about 16,000 food-distribution visits to Henrico locations, which is about 30% more than they’d conducted by the same time last year.

“What we see is a very disparate story,” Waidelich said. “If we look in Western Henrico and in Eastern Henrico . . . at our 27 pantries and nonprofits and community partners that truly are the ones that do the work that we do, we have a challenge. A lot of the resourcing tends to be in the central and the western side, where more of the need tends to be on the eastern side.”

As a result, he said, Feed More has been intentional in recent years about partnering with groups of all types in Eastern Henrico. That includes The Oaks, a community center in the former Highland Springs High School building where people can pick up food when they’re in immediate need or sign up for regular food delivery.

'Hunger doesn't really have a season'

Earlier this month, volunteer Debbie Herzog (who comes in consistently twice a week packing bags for delivery) helped with inventory. Some bags contain culturally specific items that appeal to Hispanic or Afghan Henrico County residents.

Every bag, depending on customer preference, will either have cereal or oatmeal. There will always be pasta and pasta sauce, always tuna, peanut butter and two different kinds of vegetables. There's usually a side item and mac and cheese if there are children in the household. Fresh or canned fruit also are included. 

“We collect, collect, collect. We are constantly moving stuff,” Das-Menezes said. “We're constantly counting to make sure we have supplies. Most of our volunteers who are on site or help with deliveries are very consistent. They are there every single month or week.”

When someone in the community organizes a food drive that could equal thousands of pounds of food, Das-Menezes assembles a group of people to sort through that. She encourages groups that come in to conduct food drives themselves so they can bring the food with them and then sort it – and see how fast it disappears out the door.

“Our biggest need for volunteers is always drivers, because that's what we do every single day,” Das-Menezes said. “We need volunteers who are able to deliver between the 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. time frame. It's a very straightforward, simple process. We assign drivers to a route they do every single time.”

Bags need to be packed three days in advance, so there's always a need on site. HCFB is always a month and a half ahead in terms of its planning process and two months ahead in terms of making sure inventory is on site, with shelves of canned goods and more stable produce like potatoes ready to go out.

Seniors who no longer drive thank the volunteers.

“It's up to us to make sure that we are ready,” Das-Menezes said. “Hunger doesn't really have a season. You could be chronically hungry 365 days a year. It's a great need. The toughest times is January through mid-October.”

Honoring 'hunger heroes'

September is Hunger Action Month. Das-Menezes uses the occasion to promote those who she calls the hunger heroes – HCFB’s volunteers.

While all five employees at the HCFB do all of the varied work involved, it is the volunteers who pack the grocery bags, deliver the groceries, bring product in on a regular basis and donate food.

“That is so incredibly important,” Das-Menezes said. “We are grateful to those funders who have supported us from day one and who continue to support us, who look at our mission and decide that they're going to join, follow, share the news. We have couldn't do THIS without them.”

Das-Menezes also praised her staff, board of directors and partners for making the initial vision for the food bank come to life.

“It takes everyone to make a dent into something like hunger,” she said. “I think September is a big hurrah to all of them who are involved.”

HCFB is celebrating its funding partners, food donors, board, staff and volunteers of all ages through its social media and newsletter to show how it is trying to create an impact in the Henrico community.

In its first fiscal year, the HCFB started strong, with people giving more than 2,000 volunteer hours. That number dipped down to 1,700 hours in FY 2023 but has leveled off during the past two fiscal years (2,700 hours in FY 2024 and 2,600 in FY 2025).

With all the related challenges, Das-Menezes sees room for growth, like more staff to lead recipients to more resources and events like health screenings and financial literacy workshops.

“Still keeping food at the center, because we know that that is a very critical component but have the other social determinants of health surrounding it, that's a big plan,” Das-Menezes said. “We are a growing brand. The more people know about us, want to get affiliated with us, want to know how they can help, the faster we are going to be able to bring something like this up for our county residents.”

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.