JK Moving starts farm to alleviate hunger in Loudoun

Leesburg, Va. — JK Moving Services, a global moving, storage, relocation, and logistics enterprise, announced the opening of the JK Community Farm, a JK Moving signature charitable initiative that will have a lasting and healthy impact on struggling families within the Loudoun community and beyond. The farm is a philanthropic effort designed to alleviate hunger by growing and harvesting crops and livestock and donating them to nonprofits, including Loudoun Hunger Relief, which will also serve as the distribution partner to other nonprofits. “We are part of this community, and I know that poverty is a very real issue here. I wanted to develop a charitable effort that meets critical community needs in a very tangible way,” explained Chuck Kuhn, President and CEO, JK Moving Services. “Using my land to grow and share food is a way we can contribute and address hunger issues by providing healthy foods throughout the year.” In the basement of his parents’ home, Chuck Kuhn founded JK Moving Services on two fundamental values: care and respect. Today, JK is the largest owned and operated, independent moving company in North America. In its communities and business practices, JK employees live out the core values of care and respect every day, to make the world a better and healthier place for all. Through donations, in-kind service, and volunteering, JK and its employees support direct services to people in need, accessible education for people of all ages and backgrounds, and assistance to U.S. service members, military families, veterans, and first responders. Now Kuhn is expanding the breadth of his family and company’s philanthropic investments in a way that upholds their values and has a lasting impact on the community where it is headquartered.

Interested in making meaningful investments, Kuhn recently purchased land in Purcellville, Va. to house The JK Community Farm. At first, four acres will be used to grow more than 16 types of vegetables including sweet potatoes, potatoes, lettuce, corn, kale, and more. More acres will be added for growing in years to come. In addition, the Kuhn family is donating beef, pork, and venison. In year one, JK Community Farm expects to donate 53,000 pounds of crops as well as meat. The retail value of the year one donation is approximately $235,000. “The JK Community Farm is an innovative initiative, and we are happy to be working with the JK team to provide more fresh produce and locally farmed meats to the clients we serve as well as to our partner pantries. A diet of shelf-stable foods, common to emergency food pantries, fills stomachs but does not lead to healthy outcomes. We’ve increased our fresh produce storage and distribution capabilities drastically, and look forward to being able to share The JK Community Farm’s produce and meat donations,” explained Jennifer Montgomery, Executive Director, Loudoun Hunger Relief.

In addition to sharing meat and fresh produce, the JK Community Farm is also planning to host educational classes for nonprofit clients about cooking, gardening, nutrition. The farm will also provide volunteering opportunities for JK Moving staff and others in the community; a CSA for JK Moving and JK sister company—CapRelo—employees; and workforce training for nonprofit partner clients. More than 14,000 Loudoun residents suffer from food insecurity. In fact, nearly half of the peopled served at food pantries are children. They also serve senior citizens, the ill and disabled, those who are homeless, and the working poor. Nearly 70 percent of adults who receive food are employed at least part-time. Having sources of fresh food are important to these organizations’ work to end hunger.

ABOUT JK MOVING SERVICES

In the basement of his parents’ home, Chuck Kuhn founded JK Moving Services 36 years ago on two fundamental values: care and respect. Today, JK is the largest owned and operated, independent moving company in North America and provides local, long-distance, and global relocation services to a variety of commercial, residential, and government clients. Headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, the company maintains a full-time, professionally trained staff of relocation and move management experts committed to providing the highest level of customer care.