The Need For Volunteers Continues
August 4, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY - Last month, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma asked the community to help pack more than 4.2 million pounds of product before the end of September to help their neighbors in need. To date, more than 151,000 boxes of product have been assembled by volunteers.
“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the community,” said Joe Wood, volunteer operations manager at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. “Thanks to their help, we have packed and distributed 72 percent of the product. We still need to assemble around 60,000 more Emergency Family Boxes by the end of this month.”
Volunteerism typically drops off in August and September as families get ready for the new school year to begin. The Food Bank has openings for volunteers Monday through Saturday and needs approximately 200 volunteers each day to keep up with the demand.
“I had a really a good experience and will come back to volunteer,” said one recent volunteer. “I felt really good afterwards!”
No appointment is necessary for individual volunteers. Volunteer hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Groups of five or more people can call 405.972.1111 or e-mail volunteer@regionalfoodbank.org to set up a volunteer appointment. Volunteering during weeknights and on Sunday is also available by appointment.
Volunteers donated more than 64,000 hours last year and saved the Regional Food Bank more than one million dollars in labor. The Regional Food Bank distributed nearly 36.5 million pounds in Fiscal Year 2010 through a network of more than 700 charitable feeding programs and elementary schools. This represents a 28 percent increase in distribution over the previous year.
Oklahoma ranks as the sixth hungriest state in the nation, where 500,000 people wonder every day where their next meal will come from. The Regional Food Bank provides enough food to feed more than 77,000 hungry Oklahomans each week. The majority of those served by the Regional Food Bank are children, seniors living on fixed incomes, and working families who cannot make ends meet.
Connect online with the Regional Food Bank at twitter.com/rfbo or facebook.com/regionalfoodbank.
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is a private, 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that acts as a link through which the food industry and community may donate food and other goods. The products are then distributed to nearly 700 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. In the last fiscal year, the Food Bank distributed 36.5 million pounds of food and product to help the charitable community effectively feed people in need. Since its inception in 1980, the Regional Food Bank has distributed more than 354 million pounds of food to feed Oklahoma’s hungry. Visit regionalfoodbank.org to see the real-time counter that tracks the pounds and meals distributed every second.
