Every year, Give Roanoke invites the community to show up for local organizations. This year, consider supporting LEAP! Your gift will DOUBLE its value and support folks with limited food access. For every $10 you give, someone who needs it will have $20 to spend on fresh fruits and veggies at LEAP markets. Give Roanoke is open now through Wednesday, 4/22 at 11:59pm. Thanks for your support! 

Every Tuesday afternoon around 2pm, LEAP begins setting up for its West End Farmers Market. Vendors arrive from nearby (less than 100 miles) to unload their cars with fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, pasture-raised and grass-fed meat and eggs, and fresh-harvested honey and baked breads. Customers start to show up, often young families with kids in tow—toddlers to teenagers running in with excitement about what’s in store this week. In this neighborhood with limited options for fresh food, a market like this is not just a privilege, but a lifeline to its community members.

The West End Farmers Market is one of several LEAP locations that prioritizes bringing fresh food, grown by local farmers, into communities across Roanoke. We do this through two weekly farmers markets, a Community Store open 4 days a week, and a Mobile Market that brings fresh food to communities that lack mobility or options, such as senior housing.

Everyone should be able to put fresh food on their family’s table. That is not always a reality as individuals and families struggle to access quality food due to rising food costs, loss of food benefits, and lack of affordable, accessible options. LEAP strives to remove barriers to fresh food access, including time, money, skill, and physical ability or access.

LEAP Harvest Bucks

LEAP’s Harvest Bucks program increases nutrition security in our community by providing consistent, affordable access to high-quality, culturally appropriate, nutrient-dense foods. Through Harvest Bucks, LEAP provides a $1 for $1 match on fresh fruits and vegetables for people with SNAP, Medicaid, or WIC at the LEAP Farmers Markets, Mobile Market, and Community Store.

People who shop at LEAP markets and participate in LEAP’s Harvest Bucks program say that “LEAP’s innovative match programs make healthy food truly accessible. These programs allow families like mine to stretch our budgets while supporting local farmers and producers.”

At the West End Farmers Market, LEAP also provides $5 Kids Bucks free for kids to spend on fruits and veggies each week. Kids Bucks give kids a chance to learn, connect, and experience the joy of choosing and eating fresh food. Our Food Access Manager, Connie, shares a story of the little boy who came to the market one day asking for more of “the little orange balls,” referring to the season’s peaches. This little boy had grown up without knowing what a peach was, and being able to experience that was a real impact of making fresh food available and affordable to his family.

How you can support

Since 2009, LEAP has provided support to local farmers, increased affordable access to fruits and vegetables, and strengthened communities.

Community support helps us reach more communities across Roanoke Valley — buying food from local farmers and producers at fair prices, operating our vehicles and facilities that help store and distribute food, and helping more families stretch their food budgets. With food prices higher than they have been in decades, more people each year rely on the cost-saving programs LEAP offers.

Your gift makes a difference.

For every $20 you give, someone who needs it will have $40 to spend on fresh food.

It's that simple.