Blog

On the first Saturday of each month on L Street NW between New Jersey Avenue and First Street you’ll find the food bank’s DC Community Marketplace, where we provide fresh, seasonal produce and other grocery items at no cost to all residents in need of food assistance. Read an inside look at a morning at the marketplace.

For Audrey Walker, the Director of Youth Services at Jubilee Housing, summer isn’t just for vacation – it’s for community. Her summer is packed full of cohorts of kids and their families. Jubilee’s youth programs provide kids with experiential learning like field trips, practice in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM), and opportunities for community service and civic engagement. But even more importantly, it provides hot meals and snacks to keep kids healthy and energized throughout the summer and beyond.

Since March of 2020, the food bank's wonderful volunteers have helped pack and distribute nearly 350,000 emergency food boxes, which play an important role as one of many, contactless ways we get food to neighbors in need during this challenging time. Here’s an inside look at how these emergency food boxes come together – and how they get out our doors to those who need them.

When our neighbors need food assistance for themselves or a loved one, the Hunger Lifeline is often the first number they call. Since COVID-19 began to fundamentally shift the world around us, the number of calls coming through this line have tripled – and show no signs of slowing down. Take an inside look behind the scenes.

To address the root causes of hunger and inequity in our region, the CAFB is finding need new and innovative approaches. Food can be a powerful catalyst for change and for more inclusive economic growth that begins to address our region’s inequities. That's why our next stage of work will seek to harness that power.

From getting ready to distribute thousands of pounds of turkey and other holiday food staples for families to being part of food drives across the region, excitement is in the air as the food bank prepares for the season of gathering and giving.

Akiema’s job helps her pay the family’s bills, but it doesn’t leave much left over for food. She used to worry about how she’d make sure her kids got enough to eat, especially over the summer and after school. Today, though, that’s changed. Read more to learn how.

Come along with CAFB team member Lauren for a day in the life of a Joyful Food Market – free, school-based markets where kids and parents can select fresh produce and groceries to take home, join in cooking demonstrations, and sample new and delicious fruits and vegetables.

Capital Area Food Bank CEO Radha Muthiah recently visited one of the food bank's free monthly produce markets. The experience prompted her to reflect on the importance of doing two things simultaneously: meeting the need in our community today, and building a path towards a different future.