Meals for A-SPAN
As hypothermia season hit with the COVID-19 pandemic still underway, our friends at A-SPAN found themselves in need of assistance feeding the additional guests in their shelter. So we have formed a partnership with La Cocina VA to provide 1,300 meals to A-SPAN for the remainder of winter (January – March).
The Need
Every year, A-SPAN (Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network) expands its shelter capacity for hypothermia season (Nov – Mar). Due to the pandemic, A-SPAN is taking in even more guests than usual, increasing the need to resources such as food. Additional restrictions due to COVID-19 have also provided challenges in securing those resources. Without being able to rely on their usual volunteers and suppliers, A-SPAN found itself in need of new connections and the Columbia Pike Partnership stepped up to help.
We reached out to our friends and partners at La Cocina VA to secure 100 meals each week for A-SPAN for the duration of hypothermia season and our generous sponsors and donors answered our calls to help fund the project!
About Our Partners
Founded in 1988, A-SPAN strives to end homeless in Arlington by moving people towards housing through a continuum of care that includes shelter, rapid re-housing and permanent supportive housing, day programs, medical respite, job and life skills coaching, and street outreach. To learn more about the wrap-around services A-SPAN provides, visit www.a-span.org.
La Cocina VA is a workforce and economic development program, serving low-income and unemployed minorities and immigrants in Northern Virginia, many from South and Central America. Supported by area agencies, foundations, churches, and private businesses, La Cocina VA offers bi-lingual culinary training, career and kitchen safety certification, vocational English instruction, job placement assistance, and assistance with small-business development. The program incorporates food assistance for the hungry, greater accessibility to healthy affordable foods, and nutrition awareness to reduce obesity and improve health. For more information about La Cocina VA, go to www.lacocinava.org.
Thank You to Our Sponsors & Donors
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