Belmont Community Resource Services

The Belmont Food Pantry has been distributing food on the Southside of Richmond every Friday from 9:00 am to 1pm for nearly 20 years (never missed a Friday distribution). Our drive-thru and walk-up style pantry provides 30 lbs. of food per family each week. However, when the demand is high those coming after 11 am may receive 20-25 lbs. depending on our inventory and family size. Four hourly employees and more than 80 weekly volunteers (over 14,000 hours annually) manage food collection and distribution weekly. In 2023, more than 600,000 lbs. of food was received from our 13 Feed More grocery store partners, 80,000 lbs. of dry goods from local churches and community food drives, and we purchased over 200,000 lbs. of food from Feed More. We nearly doubled our food collection in 2023 without increasing staff support. Our program grew by 38% in 2023 feeding an additional 20,000 people.

The Closet @Belmont has been in operation for more than 15 years, providing high quality clothing, shoes, hygiene items, housewares, books, and some toys to pantry guests at no cost. Donation collection, organization, and distribution is overseen by a part-time program associate and dedicated volunteers. The Closet receives donations throughout the week and is open for 'shopping" from 9am to 1pm every Friday and shoppers may fill a large grocery bag. Nonclothing items can be selected as well, however, there is often a waiting list for items such as small appliances, dishes, cookware, coats, and specific sizes. In 2023, we distributed more than 125,000 items to help support our families, many of which experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity, and/or immigration to the US. In 2023, nearly 90% of our guests were women (shopping for a family) and over 70% identified as Hispanic. In 2023, The Closet increased services by 28% and is now supporting more than 100 shoppers a week. If end of year trends continues, we anticipate another 28% growth in services in 2024.