The Roanoke (VA) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated contributed more than 300 pounds of food to a nonprofit that assists individuals and families in Pulaski County who are struggling with hunger.
On Feb. 24, the Roanoke chapter collected and distributed food to the City of Refuge Pulaski, a faith-based organization that helps more than 100 families per week. The chapter also made a monetary donation to the organization. The contributions were part of a Links initiative that encouraged chapters to join an effort during the month of February to help meet the demands of the underserved, especially those identifying as “chronically hungry.”
“We had the privilege of donating items that will allow the City of Refuge to provide a 30-pound package of food for 20 families,” said Dr. Knotresha Stewart-Osemobor, an internist in Dublin, VA and member of the Roanoke Links chapter.
According to the most recent USDA’s Household Food Insecurity in the United States report, more than 35 million people in the United States struggled with hunger in 2019, an increase of 145% over 2018. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, food insecurity has only escalated in the United States. Black American households have faced hunger at two times the rate of white, non-Hispanic households.
“Every day provides opportunities for service organizations such as the Roanoke Chapter of the Links to render needed services to those in need,” said Carolyn Patterson, chapter president.
The Roanoke chapter is one of 292 chapters of The Links, Incorporated, one of the oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.
The membership of The Links, Incorporated consists of more than 16,000 professional women of African descent in 292 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom.
