The Walt Whitman Middle School Family Food Market is in its ninth year serving the Alexandria, VA community. It provides monthly emergency food distributions for students, families, and the community at large.
“It’s a resource for the community, so those who have food insecurity and financial difficulties can have a way to receive fresh produce, staples, and shelf-stable food they can hold onto,” Walt Whitman Middle School Community Schools Coordinator Karen Cordova says. “I feel like there’s a stigma when it comes to needing resources, which it shouldn’t be because food is something everyone universally should be able to have.”
When Cordova started at Whitman a couple of years ago, she says the market was averaging about 160 families a month. It now sees about 210 families monthly.
“So, we know the need is there,” she says.
The “pop-up” food distribution is set up in Whitman’s main hallway, with student volunteers—known as “Student Ambassadors”—volunteering their after-school time to hand out food.
“It means a lot of help because we have a lot of families in need, especially now when everything is so expensive. It’s nice to have this help,” community member and market recipient Evelyn G. says. “We appreciate it. We thank them very much. It’s a big help. Thank you for being part of a community that’s needy.”
The mobile market is in partnership with Capital Area Food Bank and United Community, a nonprofit with a mission to lift families in Fairfax County out of poverty.
The market serves those in the ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) population. According to the 2025 United Way of the National Capital Area’s Fairfax County ALICE report, 29% of households in the county are living below the ALICE threshold, meaning they are either in poverty or earning less than what it takes to afford the basics where they live.
Guest speakers provide families with community resources before food is distributed.
“It helps us in many ways, with food, giving us the family market, which helps us a lot, and also with the information they provide us,” community member Doris says.
As Whitman’s Community Schools Coordinator, Cordova is focused on attendance, behavior, and course performance. She has a caseload of about 40 students she works with directly. The family market is an extension of her work, schoolwide and in the community, to support the “whole child.”
“Being able to eliminate those obstacles for them. They don’t need to tell us their names. They don’t have to tell us their story. They don’t even need to live within our boundaries,” Cordova says. “As long as they hear about it, they come in and go through the line, they get the resources that they need.”
The Walt Whitman Middle School Family Food Market is the first Wednesday of each month from 3-4 p.m. at 2500 Parkers Lane in Alexandria. The two remaining market days of the school year are May 6 and June 3.
Another United Community food market is held at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School, the first Monday of each month at 4015 Fielding Street in Alexandria.
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