Woodbridge Campus Food Pantry Receives Generous Donation

November 17, 2022 / Faculty/Staff Highlights

Recently, NOVA Woodbridge Campus Interim Provost Richmond Hill held a town hall meeting for students. The students expressed their need for heat-and-eat meals that they could access in the food pantry and warm up and eat while on campus.

Dr. Hill immediately reached out to Mercedes Kirkland-Doyle, executive director of The Good News Community Kitchen (TGNCK) and asked if they could support our students by donating frozen meals and other ready-to-eat food items to the campus pantry. Not only did she say yes, TGNCK donated more than $500 worth of food including frozen meals, breakfast bowls and sandwiches, yogurt, pudding, Jell-O, juice pouches, Ramen noodles and more.

This generous donation enables students to have a warm breakfast or lunch without the worry of being able to purchase meals on campus. Dr. Hill is working on fostering an ongoing partnership with TGNCK so that students can access free meals and are ready to succeed.

We remain grateful for our partnerships with organizations like Capital Area Food Bank and the generous donations from our faculty and staff.

TGNCK is a non-profit organization located in Occoquan that was established to rebuild and strengthen communities by fighting hunger, one meal at time, through hunger relief, hygiene essentials, and workforce development in Northern Virginia and the metro area.

Student pantry worker Indio Prather and Dr. Richmond Hill, move a food donation from the trunk of a car to a cart to bring in to stock the Woodbridge Nighthawk Nest food pantry.
Dr. Richmond Hill (right) and student pantry worker Indio Prather unload the food donation to stock in the Nighthawk Nest.
A wide variety of frozen meals are pictured in a freezer drawer in the Woodbridge Nighthawk Nest Food Pantry.
A variety of frozen meals are pictured in a freezer in the Woodbridge Nighthawk Nest Food Pantry.

Submitted by:
Charlene Wilkins, cwilkins@nvcc.edu