SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange) supplies food at a minimum cost to low-income families and all people who wish to stretch their food dollars.

SHARE is supported by church organizations, local businesses, civic clubs, human service agencies, and private donors. It is unique in that it is a self-help program and not based on emergency need. Participants pay $20 in cash or food stamps plus two (2) hours of community service.

Participants order food packages through Host Organizations that collect money from each participant.

The large quantity of food ordered makes it possible for SHARE to buy food in bulk at wholesale prices. Unlike many direct relief organizations, SHARE does not limit the number of groups that get involved in food distributions. There is no limit on the number of food packages a participant may purchase.

Participants are asked to volunteer two hours in their community for each package they buy. Volunteer service is any volunteer activity which benefits the community or an individual, for which one is not paid. Many hours of volunteer service are spent at the warehouse bagging the food into individual packages and preparing it for distribution, and the host sites where it is distributed.

SHARE Virginia purchases fresh food (meats; vegetables; fruit; staples such as beans, cereal, rice, and frozen foods) and distributes once each month to host organizations from warehouses located in Pulaski, Va. and Beckley, W.Va.

SHARE Virginia has served Southwest Virginia since 1984 and has distributed more than 1 million packages to residents in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and North Carolina. There are about a dozen SHARE programs in the United States. The first SHARE was founded in 1983.

To find a Host in your area from which to purchase SHARE, click here, or for more information, call the SHARE office at (540) 633-2850.