Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Coronavirus

Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Coronavirus 2560 1086 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Friday, August 21, 2020

Nearly half of the total amount of food that your food bank distributed this week was fresh produce. In fact, we distributed 316,082 pounds of fresh produce this week and our total food distribution this week was 777,686 pounds. Earlier in the week, our volunteers spent hours sorting and bagging thousands of carrots so that we could distribute them.

A frequent question that your food bank receives is why volunteers spend time sorting through the produce we source. Much of the produce we source is in industrial bulk-size packaging and boxes. Taking such bulk-size produce to a distribution is impractical. When 50-pound bags of produce are broken down to 3 to 5-pound bags, we are able to serve more families and reduce waste. Therefore, we rely on teams of volunteers to come into our warehouses to sort and package our produce into family-sized servings. This week, we had 335 volunteers willing to give of their time to help us – thank you!

One volunteer recently shared that they like to imagine what sort of dishes will be made with the produce he sorted. Another volunteer shared that they are moved as they think about a family coming together to share a meal with the food that she helped package. Whatever inspires our volunteers to give of their time, we are grateful. If you are well, able, and willing to volunteer, please click here to sign up.

Together, we are making a difference.

If you are looking for food, please click here.

To support our efforts, please click here.