WASHINGTON — Several organizations are teaming up to make sure families in the District's Ward 8 have enough servings of produce throughout the holiday season.
The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) kicked off its "Good Food for All" campaign with TRISCUIT on Nov. 22, which aims to provide affordable, nutritious foods to families in need over the course of the holiday season. The 12-week campaign provides weekly drive-by food distribution events hosted by PHA, Lancaster Foods, Capital Area Food Bank, and Giant Food.
WUSA9 visited the distribution site at the THEARC at the Children's National in D.C. Wednesday as 500 families pulled up to receive 20-pound boxes filled with locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as a box of Triscuit crackers. PHA Vice President of Communications Jason Wilson told WUSA9 that the boxes provide produce to serve a family of four for a whole week.
Wilson said the holidays can be a hard time for families already struggling with food insecurity. Providing accessible food options to families in Ward 8 was especially important since there's only one grocery store in the area.
"Ward 8 is like a lot of communities around the country. It's been hit especially hard by the pandemic but even before that it really was and is considered a food desert," Wilson said. "There's a Giant that's close by but for a lot of families transportation is still an issue."
The food distribution takes the transportation problem out of the equation since people just have to drive up and pick up a box.
"It's just one less stress I think for families to have if they know they're going to have access to the fresh produce throughout the holidays," Wilson said.
The "Good Food for All" campaign ultimately hopes to serve 1,000 families in Ward 8 and provide a total of 600,000 servings of fruits and vegetables.