Hunter Fauber began a food pantry over 30 years ago in his garage at the request of officials from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank where he was a volunteer. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank does not give food to individuals, only to organizations. Many people had been turned away because of this rule, so Hunter was asked to fill the void.
Newly retired, Hunter felt led to find a way to give back to his community and agreed to begin a food pantry in his own home. Little did he know that he had just found his life’s work– and his community had just found a life-line!
Soon Hunter’s church, Pleasant View Evangelical Lutheran, and his Ruritan club, Mount Sidney Ruritans, were supporting his effort. His garage began to fill up with food, clothes and the occasional appliance or piece of furniture. People showed up at his door looking for help at all hours of the day and night and were never turned away.
As word of this wonderful service spread and the demands on the pantry increased, it became obvious that more space was needed, and the Faubers needed their home back!
After much searching and praying for a location that was both accessible and affordable, space was offered in the Augusta County Social Services Building located at the Government Center in Verona, Virginia. The August County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide the rent and utilities with the space the pantry would use.
In 2006, the Verona Community Food Pantry became a separate entity from Pleasant View Lutheran Church. It became a 501c3 all volunteer nonprofit corporation supported by individuals, churches, local businesses, civic organizations and foundations.
Hunter Fauber retired from VCFP in December of 2016 leaving behind a thriving organization. The Verona Community Food Pantry is truly a community undertaking.
Cecil Wright, the President, and Ike Moore, the Executive Director are the people at the top that keep everything running smoothly. The lovely Glenda Ridgely is able to handle all the correspondence. June Miller keeps the finances in order. These, and so many others, are the friendly faces who work tirelessly with little recognition.
The Board of Directors, during the 2023 Annual Meeting, approved a new organizational structure for the Verona Community Food Pantry. Ike Moore will continue as the Executive Director until a replacement is in place as he plans for future retirement. The new structure includes four team leaders and they are as follows: Administrative Team Leader is Glenda Ridgely, Receiving and Processing Team Leader is Tony Shafer, Warehouse and Storage Team Leader is Jim Ruff, and Client Services Team Leader is Sharon Ratsch. These individuals will coordinate with the other volunteers in the daily activities of the pantry as we strive to become more efficient in our delivery system of food to our clients in a timely fashion. We also want to thank all of our faithful volunteers that made 2023 a very productive year. Be sure to check out the statistics in another part of the web page.