Page 12 - Discover Summer 2020

Agape Center CONTINUED

John Van Hengel, a retiree in Arizona in of cosmetic reasons. In one instance, a farmer
the late 1960s, decided to become a volunteer couldn’t find a buyer for a million pounds of
at a local soup kitchen. One day he observed a tomatoes. In another instance, a manufacturer
woman rummaging through the garbage bins of made a mistake in the labeling of a snack bar.
a grocery store and he struck up a conversation A food bank in Tennesee rescued millions of
with her. It seems she regularly foraged for pounds of green beans that were snapped too
food that had been discarded by the grocer. short to be sold at the grocery store.
She did this to feed her children. During their
Working alongside Sue and the other
conversation the woman made the observation
volunteers at the center is Sue’s husband, Jack,
that instead of throwing food out there should
who heads up the maintenance department. Jack
be a place where it could be stored for people to
is a retired aircraft accident investigator. Moving
pick up, similar to banks storing money.
to the Lake in 1987, Jack continued his work as
Van Hengel was stirred into action an accident investigator until 2016.
and soon established St Mary’s Food Bank
“He kept a plane at the airport,” Sue said,
in Phoenix. It was the first of many to follow.
“And flew to the various sites he was called on to
During its initial year, the young food bank
investigate.”
distributed some 275,000 pounds of food to
people in need. Word of its success soon spread, News of the accomplishments of the
and by 1977 food banks were established in 18 Agape Center at SML has spread, and three
cities across the nation. other communities have decided to start their

own centers. One center is in Vinton, and the
In 1979, Van Hengel next created a
other is in Lynchburg. Currently, Sue is working
national organization calling it Second Harvest.
with folks in Christiansburg toward establishing
Then, in 2008, the name was changed to Feeding
a center there. All three fall under the by-laws
America to better reflect its mission.
and board of directors of the Moneta center.
Today there are 200 food banks across the
If you would like to get involved as a
country, making Feeding America the Nation’s
volunteer with this worthy organization, you
largest domestic hunger-relief organization.
may apply online at the center’s Website. Or if
Through Feeding America, 40 million people
you would like to make a donation of a check
are served, including 12 million children and 7
or money order, it may be mailed to: The Agape
million seniors.
Center of SML, PO Box 573, Moneta, VA
Here are some more, eye-opening 24121.
statistics: Each year in this country, an estimated
Donations of household goods were
72 billion pounds of safe, edible food goes to
suspended during the COVID 19 pandemic,
waste, while 37 million people struggle with
which was still active during the writing
hunger. This means that as much as 40% of the
of this article, so call or go online before
food grown, processed and transported in the US
donating household items. The center’s phone
is never consumed. More food reaches landfills
number is 540-296-0609. Its website is: www.
and incinerators than any other single material.
agapecentersml.org
Getting to this food before it is
destroyed, and putting it in a central location Agape welcomes donations of
for distribution is what food banks are all school supplies, towels, sheets, curtains,
about. Feeding America calls it “food rescuing”. silverware, pots and pans, baby
They do this by working with manufacturers,
distributors, retailers, food service companies, equipment, sofas, dressers, bed sets
and farmers. Volunteers pick what’s left in fields (mattress and springs), and appliances,
after the harvest. They also take produce that is including air conditioners.
nutritious and edible, but cannot be sold because

10 Discover Smith Mountain Lake SUMMER 2020