Newport News – As they’ve done for six years, employees of the Newport News Sheriff’s Office met the challenge to be of service to others by generously donating to the 2022 Day of Service food drive.
For four hours on a cold and blustery day, Sheriff Gabe Morgan, Newport News Mayor McKinley Price and other city and community leaders accepted donations that people dropped off to fill foodbank shelves.
Lt. Gross and Cpl. Robertson arrived with boxes of food and Sheriff Morgan and others put them on dollies. Everyone watched as they were weighed and added to the donation boxes inside the Foodbank warehouse to be distributed.
NNSO donations, plus those from the community, helped the Va. Peninsula Foodbank reach a new record for donations for this service event. In all, the foodbank received $13,401 and 11,209 pounds of food, which equates to 62,944 meals for families experiencing hunger in our community.
Foodbank officials tell us that they’ve seen an 18% decrease in food donations, due mostly to the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain issues, grocery shortages and an increase in supply costs.
The NNSO motto is “Committed to Making a Difference” and the food collected on the Dr. King holiday will do just that.