STANARDSVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The community-led Feeding Greene organization held a ribbon-cutting Wednesday at its newly renovated 81 Main St. building in Stanardsville. The facility will host the organization’s “Backpack Program,” which distributes backpacks of food to Greene County Public Schools and Head Start students.

The backpacks are provided for students to take home over the weekend, in addition to boxes of food they can take home during school breaks. The new, larger space will be dedicated solely to running the “Backpack program,” and Feeding Greene Director Rhonda Oliver said the additional space isn’t the only reason the expansion will be beneficial.

“This is a program for students that’s actually run by students, so to give them their own space to work is a big deal, and it’s a big deal to keep the food separate as well,” Oliver told Cville Right Now. “And it can work independent from our other programs because it’s not a USDA program and the food either has to be purchased or donated.”

The “Backpack Program” was started by Legacy Church in 2018, with Feeding Greene taking over operation fully in 2021. Oliver said the organization purchased this new building in 2022. It was in disrepair and the organization was advised it might be best to tear it down.

“But we didn’t really want to do that,” Oliver said. “It’s a really attractive little building from the main town from the street and there’s not a lot on this street because the Town of Stanardsville is fairly small and we didn’t want to take away from it.”

Instead, Feeding Greene gutted it, adding new plumbing, wiring and walls, as well as a new roof. She said it was quite a journey, with the renovations taking four years to get done. In addition, the program had to remain operational during that time, as demand on services has remained high since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We deliver to about 150 families a month now and the backpack program has grown, so we just needed to have time to do it,” Oliver said. “Getting people to work on the building and getting the supplies just takes time. We would have loved to have it done two years ago.”

Since Feeding Greene took over, the backpack program has grown from about 70 children a week to around 150.

Oliver said the program is sustained by monetary donations from the community as well as food contributions from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

“The Food Bank provided funds through our Partner Impact and Innovation Grant Program (an annual capacity-building opportunity for our partner pantries) to help build out the space,” said BRAFB Communications Manager Les Sinclair. “The Food Bank supplements Feeding Greene, and all partners, with a 25% discount on food purchased through the Food Bank.”

It’s been a journey, but Oliver said they’re very pleased with how everything has turned out.

“We’re pleased with all the hands that took part in making it happen, and we have a beautiful space,” Oliver said.