Features: Food Banks: Lifelines to Those in Need

It's a Friday night and food distribution at the Chesterfield Food Bank Outreach Center, pictured above, is in full swing. Inside the cavernous warehouse in suburban Richmond, across the street from a veterinary clinic and an auto shop, staff members keep everyone on task while the latest pop hits keep the beat. Scores of volunteers — retirees, religious and scout groups, and families — work the different sections of fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meats, canned and dry goods, and more. Many sing along as they fill the shopping carts of other volunteers cycling through a canyon of pallets and boxes of food, making their way outside. There, another volunteer will direct them to one of the lanes with a waiting car, where they'll unload a week's worth of groceries, then return inside to load up and do it again.