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PB & J Fund 

Founded in 2009, PB & J Fund works to educate and serve under-resourced and lower-income communities. Prior to the pandemic, the nonprofit would offer cooking and nutrition classes, but in March, Executive Director Alex London-Gross, says the nonprofit was forced to pivot and rethink how they would reach children and families in Charlottesville and Albermarle County.  

“We made the decision to just focus on food access and ensure that as families needed to shelter in place they were able to access heathy food, and we recognized that a lot of families had been faced with economic challenges,” says London-Gross.  

Looking to partner with organizations that work to aid hunger relief, Cavalier Produce, connected with PB & J Fund.  

“We had been using Cavalier for produce once a week that we would use in all of our classes, when the pandemic hit they reached out to us to see if we would be interested in participating in the buy a box program, which we felt was incredibly generous and we were certainly happy to do,” says London-Gross. 

Since partnering with Grace’s Good Food Box Program, PB & J Fund has been able to return to offering their Chef-Family program. Created by a dedicated dietician, recipes are mostly vegetarian. Each week, households receive a bag of ingredients to make the simple, family friendly recipes, along with access to an online cooking demo. The program not only help families enjoy a healthy meal, but presents a chance for them to connect with one another in the kitchen.  

“We have seen an increase in families requesting food from us on a monthly basis … there is still an incredible need in our community,” says London-Gross.  

The partnership with Cavalier has also allowed PB & J Fund to offer those same families additional fresh fruits and vegetables. London-Gross says the extra produce grants families an opportunity to subsidize what they may need to buy at the grocery store, or perhaps try something they may not typically purchase.  

“It has been hugely beneficial to us and we think it is a great additional resource for families,” says London-Gross.  

Currently PB & J Fund serves a little over 400 families with food distribution efforts, and over 40 households through the Chef-Family program.

Written by our guest blogger Eileen Mellon