LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — It's been a challenging year for nonprofits across the DMV. Many organizations have lost volunteers because of the pandemic and are now working long hours to keep up with the spike in demand.
Jennifer Montgomery, the Executive Director for Loudoun Hunger Relief, said they served around 250 to 300 meals a week before the pandemic started.
That number has now spiked to more than 900 meals served.
"We are not alone, everyone in this community that is providing service work. Whether that’s domestic violence work or serving food or shelter or anything you can think of, everyone has seen significant increases in need and therefore the significant cost associated with that," Montgomery said.
Montgomery said they've had to adapt their services throughout the year to keep everyone safe during the pandemic.
"It was a struggle, we had to really quickly change our operations. We had a pantry where people could come in and shop for themselves, we quickly switched to curbside service so everything is outside," Montgomery said.
The last couple of weeks of the year is always a crucial time for nonprofits across the DMV. Montgomery said giving this year is more important than ever.
"You are really saying to them, 'We are here with you. We are coming alongside you. We support this work you are doing. We think it’s important. We think that helping our neighbors is important and we want to support you in that,'" said Montgomery.
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"We are tired, we are doing the heavy lifting and the hard work because we want to make sure we are the safety net for our community in so many ways, alongside so many partners. People who are providing shelter or healthcare or mental health. Also, our schools have done an incredible job of feeding our children. There is not one part of this community that has not been touched in some way," Montgomery said.
Montgomery suggests finding a cause you are passionate about and then contacting the person in the community doing that work.
"Whatever that looks like for you, you can be sure that in our community there is someone doing really excellent work around that and they could absolutely use the support this time of year," said Montgomery.
