Dulles South A Simple Gesture Chapter Highlights Door-to-Door Food Collection, Volunteers Needed

“A Simple Gesture is a door-to-door food collection program that provides nonperishable food to the Dulles South Food Pantry,” the pantry’s website states, describing a green-bag model that picks up donations from participating households and delivers them that same day to 24757 Arcola Mills Drive in Dulles. Volunteer drivers pick up filled bags in the morning, leave a replacement green bag, and transport donations to the pantry for sorting and shelving by pantry volunteers.

The pickup service is limited to households inside the named high-school attendance zones. The Dulles South Food Pantry page lists Briar Woods, Freedom, Independence, John Champe, Lightridge and Rock Ridge High Schools as the eligible boundaries and directs unsure households to email asimplegesture@dsfp.org for confirmation. Stone Ridge Association materials echo the door-to-door approach and add neighborhood instructions for participants.

Stone Ridge’s community bulletin provides operational details: “The tag on the bag tells you the six dates during the year the food is picked up and also has suggestions for items that are needed the most,” and “A week before pick-up we will send you a reminder to place the bag outside your door on the appointed date.” For Stone Ridge participants, the bulletin instructs: “On pick-up day, place your bag outside your front door by 8am.” Volunteer drivers “will pick up the bag in the morning and leave another cool, green bag in its place,” and “Drivers deliver the bags to the Dulles South Food Pantry that very day. Pantry volunteers empty the bags, sort the food and load up the shelves,” the bulletin states.

There is a discrepancy in published schedules: the Dulles South Food Pantry page says, “We provide a green bag to those who would like to participate; they fill it up per the schedule provided (five times per year), and our volunteers pick it up from their house and deliver it to the Pantry,” while the Stone Ridge bag tag text references six pickup dates. The Dulles South Food Pantry site also carries a Collection Dates heading noting that “All dates are subject to change.”

Both DSFP and Stone Ridge publish lists of requested items. The pantry’s “Most-Needed Canned Items” include tuna, chicken, peanut butter, canned fruit, tomato sauce, tomato paste, pasta sauce, sardines, hearty soup, mac & cheese cups, oil and jelly. Its “Most-Needed Dry Items” list includes cereal, instant oatmeal, cereal bars, 1–2 lb bags of rice, dry beans, lentils, spaghetti, whole grain pasta, raisins, fruit cups, popcorn and granola bars. Stone Ridge adds baby food and infant formula (in date only) and personal care items such as shampoo, deodorant, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergent and feminine hygiene products to its accepted-items list.

The pantry helps coordinate a Backpack Buddies program called “Backpacks to the Rescue!” that supplies supplemental weekend food to students at Arcola Elementary, Mercer Middle School, Willard Intermediate, Champe High School and eight other local schools. Stone Ridge residents can also drop donations at the Stone Ridge Association office at 24605 Stone Carver Drive during regular business hours.

Those interested in volunteering as drivers or helping at the pantry can contact the Dulles South Food Pantry by phone at 703-507-2795, email info@dsfp.org, or the A Simple Gesture address asimplegesture@dsfp.org. The pantry’s Instagram post documenting the green-bag collections is credited “Photo by Dulles South Food.”