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MLK Day of Service Food Drive helps replenish food supplies at Virginia Peninsula Foodbank

Posted at 10:48 AM, Jan 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-22 11:30:51-05

HAMPTON, Va. - A food drive in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. couldn't come at a better time for a local food bank.

Donations poured into Virginia Peninsula Foodbank on Monday morning for the third annual MLK Day of Service Food Drive.

Local leaders including Newport News Mayor McKinley Price and Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan spent the morning greeting different people, organizations, churches and more who stopped by the Foodbank's warehouse on Aluminum Ave. to drop off donations.

“It’s a great way to spend a holiday. It’s a great way to help people and it’s great to honor a man who spent his life just doing that," said Mayor Price.

Foodbank CEO Karen Joyner says the drive comes as the government shutdown continues to deplete the non-profit's food supplies quicker than normal.

The drive ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Joyner says between those hours, the food bank collected $5,250 and more than 6,250 pounds of food, which is enough to provide more than 26,000 meals.

The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank is always accepting food donations at its Aluminum Ave. location. The public can also donate money at their website, hrfoodbank.org.