Did you know there is a Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (BRAFB) partner right here in Crozet feeding families every week all year? Grace Grocery, housed in Crozet United Methodist Church, partners with the BRAFB, Wegmans and Crozet’s own Harris Teeter to provide food for our families in need.
For people needing help: We are open every Monday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. If it snows, we follow the ACPS schedule; when they are closed, so are we. We are open to anyone who needs help, even if it’s just a once or twice need. We have shelf-stable staples all the time, and most Mondays we have frozen meat, fresh veggies, and prepared meals from Wegmans! We are open like a grocery in which you pick which items you would like. Starting in May, we hope to be open until 6 p.m. every Monday for those families that work.
Grace Grocery’s support of our neighbors in Crozet would not be possible without the help of volunteers. We had a very successful 2024. To put this in perspective, here is a summary:
• Each Monday, an average of 40 families were provided with food. Grace Grocery was open 52 Mondays.
• Every other Tuesday, an average of 30 deliveries were made to families who cannot get to the church on Mondays. We made deliveries 26 times.
• Each Saturday, an average of 760 pounds of Wegmans food is picked up by our volunteers for a total of about 39,000 pounds donated by Wegmans and distributed to our neighbors. Grace Grocery had Wegmans pickups every week this year.
• Each Monday, an average of 120 pounds of Harris Teeter food is picked up by a volunteer for a year total of about 3,300 pounds. Grace Grocery had 28 Harris Teeter pickups this year.
• Every person who helps at Grace Grocery is a volunteer. All of this is accomplished with roughly 60 volunteers who serve with compassion and friendliness. Thirty of these volunteers have filled more than 20 slots each this year.
Our volunteers serve in these ways:
- Saturday Wegmans Pickup management, drivers, food sorters
- Monday Distribution management, set up, registration, patron guides, books
- Tuesday Delivery management, set up, drivers
- Blue Ridge Area Food Bank ordering, pickup, delivery, stocking shelves
- Purchasing Team
- Recycle Team
- Inventory Team
- Email and Phone Coordination
- SignUpGenius Team
We need your help! You can help in two ways:
Volunteer here: www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EACA92AA6FE3-grace#/
Donate. Financial donations are important. During 2024, about $9,000 was donated to Grace Grocery. Donate by writing a check to Crozet United Methodist Church (please put for Grace Grocery on memo line) and send it to P.O. Box 70, Crozet, VA 22932. We can stretch your dollar farther with food from the BRAFB, as we get it at a great discount.
If you would like to donate items, we could use the following: broth (chicken/beef), any spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder), sugar, cake mixes and frosting, snack bars/breakfast bars/protein bars, condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, salad dressing), coffee. Also needed: frozen meat, blocks of cheese, butter sticks. You can drop these off at the church (1156 Crozet Avenue) from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. during the week. Please NO GLASS donations.
Grace Grocery is an equal opportunity provider. You do not have to be a member of the church to be a patron nor volunteer. We welcome any and all.
Heather Marcel
Crozet
Update May 2, 2025:
I inadvertently left off one of our top, amazing partners in my Letter to the Editor regarding Grace Grocery. Crozet Market has been an important partner for many years, supplying not just food every Monday for our neighbors, but also helping us with ordering food when we need it at a significant discount. I apologize for the oversight. As a reminder, we will be open until 6 p.m. on Mondays starting May 5.
Heather Marcel
Crozet
