Evening and Weekend Hours Benefit Clients and Volunteers
(Oakton, Va., March 3, 2015) Starting this week, the Food Distribution Center (FDC) at SERVE will offer expanded office hours on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. The change in hours was made to accommodate clients’ schedules, many of whom work days, at their request. The FDC also is implementing an appointment-only schedule, eliminating walk-ins and sometimes-lengthy wait times. The new schedule includes the following office hours:
Monday: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Thursday: 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Friday: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Sunday: closed
More than 800 families in the Greater Prince William Area turn to SERVE’s Food Distribution Center for assistance every month. Clients receive a week’s worth of groceries, including fresh fruits and vegetables, based on the number of residents in their household. For some families, this food frees up enough of their budget to pay bills or buy gas. Beyond just eliminating hunger in our community, the FDC also is helping families keep their jobs and prevent homelessness.
“After surveying our clients and our volunteers, we realized that additional evening and weekend hours would be more convenient for the families we serve,” says Pam Ryan, director of Anti-Hunger Programs at SERVE. “We’ve had days where people queued up at 7 a.m. to make sure that they could get a walk-in appointment and food that day. These hours will help us to be more respectful of their time, and hopefully the appointment system will provide peace of mind that they will receive assistance on the day and time of their own choosing. In the end,” she adds, “it’s all about choice.”
In addition, the evening and weekend hours also open up additional volunteer opportunities on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings, options that were not possible under the previous schedule. With some volunteers signing up for shifts months in advance, the new schedule will allow SERVE to accommodate more volunteers. FDC volunteers receive and sort donations, assist clients with their food donations and help with the check-out process.
SERVE is located at 10056 Dean Drive, Manassas. In addition to the Food Distribution Center, the campus also has a 92-bed family shelter for homeless families, an Early Head Start classroom, and wraparound client services including health access, workforce development and employment services, counseling, the Healthy Families child abuse prevention program and emergency assistance. At least 9,000 individuals received food through SERVE’s Food Distribution Center last year.
SERVE is marking its 40th anniversary on March 20, 2015. For more information on SERVE and the Food Distribution Center please contact Pam Ryan at 571.748.2531.
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