MANASSAS, Va. – The House of Mercy, a nonprofit humanitarian agency located in Manassas, has joined the network of Feed Our Vets, a national nonprofit organization with a mission to help feed jobless and underemployed U.S. military veterans and their families through a network of community food pantries throughout the country.
“We think there are a lot of proud and food insecure veterans out there, and we want to serve them,” said House of Mercy Assistant Director Ann Cimini. “We want to let military veterans in need know that help is available to them through our doors.”
“Food insecure” describes individuals who lack “consistent access to adequate food because of lack of money and other resources at times during the year,” Cimini said. “We can provide them and their families with food from our food pantry.”
In uniting with Feed Our Vets, House of Mercy is a recognized food pantry within the organization’s network, she said. House of Mercy’s website, www.houseofmercyva.org, is also linked on Feed Our Vets’ website, www.feedourvets.org, said Cimini, who added that she believes House of Mercy is the only food pantry in Prince William that is in Feed Our Vets’ network.
Military veterans and their families in need who register with House of Mercy as clients can receive free food and clothing immediately, she said.
Thereafter, they can receive free food twice a month and free clothing about once a month at the agency, located at 8170 Flannery Court. The amount of food and clothing they can receive depends on the size of their families, Cimini said.
“All our services are also available to them,” she added. House of Mercy services include job-search training, mentoring, financial education and referrals, she said.
Cimini said that, additionally, the organization will make available to veterans, as it already does to community residents, low-cost fresh produce, vegetables and frozen meat through SHARE, a nonprofit community-building food network House of Mercy joined the beginning of this year.
“I also plan to visit local veterans’ groups and talk with their representatives about what we can do to help. We’re reaching out to a demographic that is horribly and disgracefully underserved,” Cimini said.
According to Feed Our Vets’ website, 100 percent of the organization’s donations help hungry U.S. military veterans. More than 130,000 veterans are homeless and hungry on any given night in America, and one in three homeless people in the country is a U.S. military veteran, according to Feed Our Vets. Nearly three million veterans and their families go hungry each month.
Visit www.feedourvets.org for more information about Feed Our Vets, based in Utica, N.Y. To learn more about House of Mercy, its services and how to help, call 703-659-1636 or visit www.houseofmercyva.org.
