The city of Williamsburg bought $5,000 worth of produce, eggs and bread from Williamsburg Farmers Market vendors, then turned around and distributed them to public housing units.
It’s part of the city’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health situation, officials said in a news release.
Williamsburg Human Services staff reached out to members in the community to identify individuals who are having difficulty accessing resources and then worked with community partners to coordinate services.
Social Workers then identified individuals who are at risk if they left their homes and would benefit from having food delivered to their homes.
“We are so thankful for the partner agencies, faith-based organizations and volunteers who are taking extraordinary measures to respond to the need within our community,” said Williamsburg Human Services Director Wendy Evans, in the news release.
City Manager Andrew Trivette approved the purchase.
“While many people are being adversely affected by business shut downs and closings, a majority of our public housing residents are among the first that will have hours cut or not be able to go in to work at all,” said Williamsburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority Executive Director Tyrone Franklin.
As of Friday, James City County has 19 positive cases of coronavirus, Williamsburg has four, York County has three and Newport News has one, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s website.
Virginia now has 114 positive cases of the coronavirus with 20 hospitalizations, according to Friday’s update.
“This really is a great way to connect two distressed situations to make something positive happen,” Trivette said. “By purchasing local fresh food, we can help impacted farmers and help impacted residents and make something good happen.”
Farmers Market staff and volunteers created about 104 bags of food for the city’s public housing residents.
“It feels good to have something good and positive coming from this difficult situation,” Trivette said.
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