The turnout for the flood cleanup at FACES Food Pantry Tuesday showed what a big heart the Heart of Virginia has. Individuals and organizations across the community and beyond worked most of the day to restore the facility. At 9 a.m. the warehouse was a chaos of mud and congealing potato flakes, overturned freezers and sodden cardboard. By 3 p.m. it had been entirely emptied, pressure washed, sprayed with bleach and largely restored to functionality.

The effort was led by Bobby Eiban and Dempsey Jones from the FACES’ Board who called in members of their emergency recovery SWAT team based in Lynchburg. The Town of Farmville cordoned off working space and provided a garbage compactor with a tireless crew. The Farmville Fire Department brought hoses to blast everything clean. Green Front Furniture bailed us out by lending a fork lift when ours expired at a critical moment, and Green Front Accessories provided other equipment. Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches rallied work crews who were the core of the can recovery operation. Pam Tracy and Little Caesars provided an abundant lunch, supplemented by drinks from Davenport. Joy Stump, Farmville Chamber of Commerce, and many other individuals provided both sweat equity and generous contributions to help FACES recover from the loss.

FACES is one of Virginia’s largest food pantries, distributing over 1.3 million pounds of food annually, about half of it fresh produce, to nearly 1,000 local households screened for need. Sustained entirely by volunteers and contributions from the local community, it is a reflection of our community’s determination that no one in the Heart of Virginia will want for food. Thank you Farmville.

Ellery Sedgwick is the Chair at FACES. You can reach him at esedgwick@longwood.edu.

Publishers note: If you would like to help food donations are being taken at the Virginia Credit Union, Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce, Southside Virginia Family YMCA and Centra Southside Community Hospital. Sedgwick noted that peanut butter, canned goods, macaroni and cheese, canned pasta and breakfast cereals are in need. If you would like to make a monetary donation visit the FACES website at www.facesfoodpantry.com/donate. Debit, credit card and paypal payments are all accepted. Checks made payable to FACES can be mailed to FACES, P.O. Box 644, Farmville VA 23901. Monetary donations are tax deductible. Receipts will be mailed.