30 Years Later: The Regional Food Bank’s Response to the Oklahoma City Bombing
On Saturday, April 19, Oklahoma City will remember the 168 lives lost 30 years ago during the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. At the time of the bombing, the Regional Food Bank was headquartered at 30 SE 17 St., two miles south of the site.
By the afternoon of April 19, the Regional Food Bank was operating at full capacity assisting in a large-scale emergency feeding operation serving first responders and displaced families at the Myriad Convention Center.
In the days following, the Regional Food Bank served as a drop-off point for donations of food and other items to be used in rescue operations. Our friends at KOCO 5 News allowed the Regional Food Bank to drop trailers off at their site, where they also collected food and financial donations for five days following the bombing.
The Oklahoma Standard was born in the moments and days after the disaster, causing the Regional Food Bank to rent temporary warehouse space to house the influx of donations. Rodney Bivens, founder and former CEO of the Regional Food Bank, noted in the organization’s newsletter that vehicles were lined up for miles in the rain waiting to donate at KOCO.
“The food bank is honored to exist in a city and state where people care about each other. I was touched by how everyone wanted to help. People just arrived at the food bank and asked, ‘What can I do?”
The Regional Food Bank assisted in feeding first responders and families left homeless by the explosion well through the first few weeks of May. Bivens ended his column in the newsletter by saying:
“Let’s never forget, let’s heal – let’s move forward.”
Read more about the Regional Food Bank’s response to the bombing.