Food Lion steps up in support of seniors

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: January 3, 2009

Food Lion is helping to feed the Piedmont’s senior population.

The North Carolina-based supermarket chain recently donated $2,500 in support of regional Senior Nutrition Sites and the meal delivery program for homebound seniors, key initiatives of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board and Area Agency on Aging.

Jason Funk, store manager at the Food Lion in Culpeper Town Square, made the presentation recently to RRCSB representatives, including Ray Parks, director of nutrition and transportation services.

“It’s a tremendous help because although we receive some funding from the Virginia Department on Aging, it certainly doesn’t cover the cost of running the program,” Parks said. “So we rely heavily on volunteers to run the programs and donations.”

Marian Taliafero, manager in the RRCSB central kitchen in Culpeper, said the facility on Bradford Road prepares nearly 300 hot meals per day, four days a week for seniors attending Nutrition Sites in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties, as well as those unable to leave home.

The central kitchen also cooks meals seven days a week, including holidays and weekends, for clients at the Boxwood Substance Abuse Residential Treatment Center of Culpeper.

“We were just ecstatic,” Taliafero said of the Food Lion contribution for senior meals. “That’s a blessing. We love donations and especially something of this size.”

Funk said the gift was made possible through the Food Lion Charitable Foundation, which formed in 2001 to provide financial support to groups dedicated to improving communities in which Food Lion operates.

“We feel it’s good to give back to the community in which we’re involved, in which our associates are involved and to the community that has supported us,” said Funk, adding that he comes in contact, on a daily basis, with RRCSB staffers and volunteers shopping in Food Lion for the various programs. “So I know that this money is going to a good cause.”

Parks said this was the first year RRCSB tapped into the Food Lion program. Besides its five Senior Nutrition Sites and deliveries for homebound seniors, the RRCSB runs nine group homes and provides nutrition education, health screenings and medical transportation.

Brian Duncan, executive director, said the Food Lion donation came at good time.

“We are very grateful for this type of support, especially when budgets are shrinking and we are finding it increasingly more difficult to fund these essential programs,” he said.