December 1, 2009            

Dear Friends of AFAC:

Please join me in addressing a challenge that many of us in Northern Virginia never thought we would face—the sad fact that many of our neighbors do not have enough to eat.

The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) provides food to people in our community who need supplemental groceries to feed their families. In the current economy, AFAC now routinely serves 1,200 families a week. By the time you read this letter, the number of working poor people in our community is expected to grow as seasonal workers—landscapers, construction workers and others—are laid off.

In 2007, AFAC took the bold step of purchasing the building which houses all of its operations when it was offered for sale. By so doing, AFAC secured its future at a location well known and convenient to its clients. AFAC borrowed the funds to buy the building and now is waging the Permanent Home Campaign to pay off its mortgage.

AFAC’s Permanent Home Campaign is an initiative which Lynn and I personally support. The stark truth is that AFAC needs you and me and others who care about hunger in our community to assist with this capital project. Keeping up with the growing number of families who turn to AFAC for nutritious food is a challenge in itself. Paying off the mortgage on AFAC’s home will allow the Center to devote the full resources of its staff and volunteers to the mission of providing nutritious food to people who cannot afford to feed their families.

Reach out with me to help those in our community who are less fortunate by making a generous contribution to the AFAC Permanent Home Campaign. We will never end world hunger if we cannot end it on our own doorstep.

Cordially,

Ted Leonsis