Portsmouth group addresses food and emotional insecurities

Regina Mobley
·2 min read
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PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — In the shadows of Downtown Portsmouth, there’s a long line every Monday morning as residents pick up boxes that contain the sustenance of life: chicken, peanut butter, fresh fruit, and cabbage that come courtesy of the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the volunteers from Andrew’s Brothers.

Rossie Coleman picks up food for a grandmother who cares for three grandchildren whom he says are children in trouble.

“One of them [has] been on probation, the older one which is 15 going on 16, he’s been on probation and he done had monitors on his leg [electronic monitoring required by law enforcement],” said Coleman. “The one who’s 14 going on 15, he done had monitors on his leg and the one that’s 10 going on 11 done been sent home, and she [the grandmother] feels like he is going to have a monitor on his leg because he don’t have a good example.”

Andrew’s Brothers, based at Third Baptist Church, provides good examples. WAVY’s Andy Fox and Regina Mobley met members of the organization and teens in their program during the group’s field trip at the 2023 Hampton Roads International Auto Show. This is just one type of outing the group hosts regularly to expose the teens to opportunities for social enrichment.

With help from the Food Bank of Hampton Roads, Andrew’s Brothers is taking back the community.

“We give them leadership about how to be productive in the community. We speak to them about how to be a family member. We speak to them about how to be someone that someone can look up to as they go through growing up. And that’s the key to this. They’re growing up and they still want to be loved,” said Carl Williams of Andrew’s Brothers.

“So what we do, we show them love by giving them things that coming up this week we are trying to reach out. We’ll give away [15] bikes for Christmas for middle school and elementary [school] on this Friday coming up. So it’s a way that we show them that somebody cares for them,” said Williams.

To donate a new bike for middle and elementary school children in Portsmouth, call Third Baptist Church at 757-393-9312.

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