Share a slice of pizza with Andrew Baber

Back in May, more than 10,500 people walked into the Thomas Jefferson Food Bank in need of something to eat.

No doubt about it, it’s tough out there. Gas has reached parity with a gallon of milk and the grocery bill seems to rise by $10 every week. Worse, the high cost of feeding yourself has made feeding others less of a priority. That means there is less food for withdrawal at the food bank at a time when the demand is greater.

“We’re really at one of the most critical positions we’ve ever been in,” said Ruth Jones, of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, the Harrisonburg-based papa to Charlottesville’s local bank. “The need just keeps growing. [The economy] hurt the working poor a long time ago and now it’s hurting the middle class.”

Lean times

Donations may be down, but the giving spirit is not out. Today, Central Virginians get a chance to sit down to dinner with Andrew Baber, even though they never met him. He’ll be there in spirit, thanks to Domino’s Pizza.

“It’s pretty fitting that something like this — gathering food for people who need it — would be done in Andrew’s honor,” said Colleen Baber, Andrew’s mother. “He’s one kid who loved to eat.”

A big kid with a big heart, Mr. Baber was a football player at Monticello High School and banged the band’s bass drum until his graduation in 2000. Mr. Baber was 19 when he tossed back a piece of candy, choked on it and suffered a cardiac arrest, dying before help could arrive. That was New Year’s Day, 2001.

“It’s hard not to love Andrew, and Domino’s started ‘Dinner with Andrew’ a couple of months after he died and they’ve done it ever since,” she said. “He loved his job at Domino’s Pizza and this keeps his memory alive.”

Today’s the day

For about three weeks, Domino’s drivers and restaurants collected canned food and donations when delivering pizzas. Today, they’re distributing 1,500 items through the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, the Thomas Jefferson Area Food Bank and others.

“The response has been very good,” said Alan Asef, area manager for the pizza chain. “Considering how tough things are, the response is more meaningful.”

Ms. Baber agrees.

“I think so often that, with the cost of food the way it is today, if my three kids were teenagers again and ate the way they ate, I don’t know how I could afford to feed the whole family,” she said. “I think of all the people who were just making it and now the cost of gas and food has put them over. For someone who loved eating like my Andrew, this is the best way to remember him.”

The food bank folks are happy, too. After all, every little bit feeds someone.

“We don’t anticipate the situation getting any better anytime soon,” said Ms. Jones. “We feel like, for the long haul, there’s going to be continued demand and need and a struggle to meet them.”