Durham Food Bank
The Weiss Fellows went to the Durham Food Bank on Friday April 19th. We took a tour of the food bank which sadly was low on fresh produce and freezer meat, especially during this time of year when there are no holiday donations. We learned that the food bank is part of several state and federal food programs that are required to give out food with a certain type of nutritional value. For example, if the food bank receives donations of soda cans, they are required to give out only diet soda since it does not have empty calories in the way regular soda does - the regular soda can be sold at a regular price. While we visited the Food Bank, our job was to sort the sodas because they do not come pre-sorted into diet and regular.
Food from all over the state accumulates at the food bank (through corporate donors, grocery stores, individual donations, and sometimes state and federal donations). Organizations like church groups, community service driven operations, or shelters come to purchase the food in bulk at a rate that covers the operating cost of the food bank - the food itself is free. We also learned that individual families come straight to the food bank for help and the food bank provides them with a starter supply of food so they don't leave hungry. Another way food gets to the public is through the state programs such as an after school program for children whose only meal in the day is probably the one they eat at school. The food bank fills up their bag packs with food for the weekend.
I decided to go with volunteering at the Durham Warehouse Food Bank idea for a number of reasons- for coherence in our project and because it focuses on a different population than the shelter food we will be preparing for Lindsey's part of the project and because it serves both adults and children who are part of low income families who for the most part have residences, as opposed to people served by the kitchen-shelter which are mostly men (because it's a men's shelter).
Information about the beneficiaries of the food bank are as follows:
48% of households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults in the household
49% of those served by the Food Bank are children
11% of people served by the Food Bank are elderly
In the 34 counties served by the Food Bank, there are more than 400,000 people at risk of hunger.
Food from all over the state accumulates at the food bank (through corporate donors, grocery stores, individual donations, and sometimes state and federal donations). Organizations like church groups, community service driven operations, or shelters come to purchase the food in bulk at a rate that covers the operating cost of the food bank - the food itself is free. We also learned that individual families come straight to the food bank for help and the food bank provides them with a starter supply of food so they don't leave hungry. Another way food gets to the public is through the state programs such as an after school program for children whose only meal in the day is probably the one they eat at school. The food bank fills up their bag packs with food for the weekend.
I decided to go with volunteering at the Durham Warehouse Food Bank idea for a number of reasons- for coherence in our project and because it focuses on a different population than the shelter food we will be preparing for Lindsey's part of the project and because it serves both adults and children who are part of low income families who for the most part have residences, as opposed to people served by the kitchen-shelter which are mostly men (because it's a men's shelter).
Information about the beneficiaries of the food bank are as follows:
48% of households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults in the household
49% of those served by the Food Bank are children
11% of people served by the Food Bank are elderly
In the 34 counties served by the Food Bank, there are more than 400,000 people at risk of hunger.
posted by Azhar at
9:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home