Support will enable up to a quarter million meals for those in need in local area.
Washington, DC, May 26, 2020 – The Capital Area Food Bank today announced that Maryland-based real estate companies MidCity and Edgewood Management, in partnership with the affiliated Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation, have made a $100,000 investment that will provide critical food for area residents as the pandemic’s economic effects are felt across the region.
“We’ve simply never faced a moment like this one, and it’s the incredible response from our community that’s making it possible for our neighbors to get the food they need right now,” said Radha Muthiah, President and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. “Support from MidCity, Edgewood, and the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation will make a critical difference, and illustrates the kind of cross-sector partnership and support that’s needed to help our region recover from this pandemic’s immediate and ongoing impacts.”
Even before the pandemic, nearly 400,000 Washington metropolitan area residents struggled with hunger and food insecurity. In recent weeks, the food bank and its network have seen the demand for emergency food increase dramatically as unemployment claims have risen. MidCity, as an existing program host for the food bank’s After School Meals program for children, reached out to the food bank amidst concern for the families that rely upon that program for assistance.
“The Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation is pleased to continue supporting the Capital Area Food Bank to further its generous, humane, and innovative response to this national crisis,” said Michael Meers, President of the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation. He continued, “The work of the Capital Area Food Bank has been an essential lifeline for our communities for decades and now, more than ever, we are proud to support their inspiring efforts. Mr. and Mrs. Ford founded the Foundation in response to the urgent need of support for individuals in our communities – the work of the Capital Area Food Bank exemplifies these critical services. The needs have never been greater and I expect that the Foundation’s response to the unprecedented crisis will be powerful and sustained.”
MidCity and Edgewood’s commitment, which is funded by the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation, will be used to help the CAFB provide essential support in the coming months by supplying up to 250,000 meals through its nonprofit partners in the region, and through “pop up” distributions of emergency boxes of shelf stable goods. The donation will also support the food bank’s preparations as it develops initiatives to meet the anticipated longer-term need arising from the toll of COVID-19 on the area economy.
The food bank provides nearly 32 million meals each year through a network of what is normally 450+ nonprofit partners. Amid coronavirus concerns, more than half of that network has temporarily closed, and partners that remain open have reported anywhere between 30 and 400% increases in the numbers of people coming through their doors.
About the Capital Area Food Bank
Now commemorating its 40th anniversary year, the Capital Area Food Bank works to address hunger today and create brighter futures tomorrow for close to 400,000 people across the region experiencing food insecurity. As the anchor in the area’s hunger relief infrastructure, the food bank provides over 30 million meals to people in need each year by supplying food to 450+ nonprofit organizations, including Martha’s Table, SOME – So Others Might Eat, DC Central Kitchen, Food for Others, Manna, and others.
About MidCity
MidCity is a Bethesda, Maryland-based, family-owned, values-drive real estate company that is grounded in more than fifty years of development and management of multifamily housing. The company was founded in 1965 by Eugene F. Ford, Sr., a national affordable housing champion who created over 15,000 units of affordable housing throughout the United States. That legacy endures today through MidCity’s core focus on developing and managing mixed-income and affordable communities. www.midcitydev.com
About Edgewood and Vantage Management
Edgewood Management and Vantage Management are East Coast affordable, market-rate and mixed-income property management companies driven by a genuine desire to help improve people’s lives. Through hands-on management and enhanced resident services, Edgewood and Vantage have become industry leaders in residential property management. Edgewood and Vantage manage a select portfolio of more than 140 residential communities in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.thefordfamilycompanies.com .
About the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation
The Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation is a private foundation created by Alice and Eugene F. Ford, Sr. The Foundation invests in programs that engage resident communities—promoting every person’s potential to thrive and break the cycle of poverty, thereby enabling self-sufficient individuals, families, and communities. Investments are focused in and around the communities that the Ford family develops and manages.
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