As the government shutdown stretches on, hundreds of volunteers and furloughed workers in Northern Virginia helped build community gardens to offset food insecurity for local families.

The gardens are situated in Alexandria, at the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. Serving low-income and military families, the nonprofit provides free gardening space to nearly 50 families.

“We've got three or four farms on this property at Woodlawn Pope Lahey and a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation where we're taking what was once an old slave plantation and using food and agriculture to make sure that everybody has enough,” said Pam Hess, the executive director of Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture.

Thanks to Thursday’s volunteers and a gra

See Full Page