A $30,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation will allow Northern Virginia Family Service to expand its outreach in connecting low-income Hispanic families in Prince William County with important SNAP benefits for food assistance and financial aid.
(Oakton, Va. – May 25, 2016) — The Walmart Foundation will present an award of $30,000 to Northern Virginia Family Service’s Anti-Hunger programs to support their work in connecting low-income families to benefits provided through the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). Although Northern Virginia is one of the wealthiest regions in the nation, and incorporates five of the 12 wealthiest counties in the country, hunger affects more than 190,000 individuals each and every year, half of whom are typically children.
SNAP provides an essential income support that has the proven ability to help lift families out of poverty. Funding from the Walmart Foundation will help increase the reach of Anti-Hunger Programs’ SNAP Outreach staff, whose focus is providing application assistance to families and individuals living at or below the poverty line, and allow the team to better connect struggling Hispanic families in Prince William County with important SNAP benefits. Not only do benefits help feed hungry families, but every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.79 in local economic activity in the communities where those dollars are spent.
“By not being enrolled in SNAP, parents miss opportunities to reduce the level of food insecurity faced by their family and reap the financial benefits the program can provide, which often lifts families out of poverty,” notes Stephanie Berkowitz, CEO and president of NVFS. “Adding an additional SNAP Outreach worker to our staff will enable us to expand our work within the immigrant community, which is traditionally defined as one of the hardest to reach populations when it comes to connecting to SNAP benefits.”
“Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are pleased to support Northern Virginia Family Service and their efforts to connect families with the SNAP program,” said Brooke Mueller, Director of Government Affairs and Public Relations, Walmart. “Through this grant, NVFS will be able to expand their outreach in the community and help more families receive benefits available for hunger relief.”
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About Northern Virginia Family Service: Northern Virginia Family Service is the largest private, nonprofit human service organization in Northern Virginia. NVFS helps more than 34,000 individuals and their families each year find housing and emergency services; health and mental health services; early childhood education and child placement services; intervention and prevention programs; job training; and legal services. Throughout its history, NVFS has been recognized as an innovator of efficient and comprehensive service methods, while effectively creating sustained financial and social independence for its clients.
About Philanthropy at Walmart: By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every day. We have stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.3 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. We are helping people live better by accelerating upward job mobility and economic development for the retail workforce; addressing hunger and making healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality; and building strong communities where we operate and inspiring our associates to give back. Whether it is helping to lead the fight against hunger in the United States with $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations or supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment through a series of grants totaling $10 million to the Women in Factories training program in Bangladesh, China, India and Central America, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are not only working to tackle key social issues, we are also collaborating with others to inspire solutions for long-lasting systemic change. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit foundation.walmart.com.