With New Technology Comes a New Volunteer Opportunity
As part of our “from Hunger to Hope” Capital Campaign, Mr. Ron Zappe from Zapp’s Potato Chips planned to support the food bank with a donation of one of his bulk packaging machines. When Mr. Zappe passed away, his family honored his memory by donating funds to allow us to build our own bulk packaging machinery to best fit our needs. Additional funding was donated by the Charles Lamar Family Foundation. We worked to build our own machine before the flood, which was fully operational; however, it was lost in the high waters.
Recently, we finished rebuilding our bulk packaging machinery and are the only food bank in the country to have this technology. The bulk packing machine allows us to repack dry bulk product like beans, rice, pasta and even cereal.
For example, we received over 20,000 pounds of Kellogg’s Fruit Loops in bulk. We are able to repackage this donation to help feed those we serve at a low cost with our bulk packaging machinery. Up to 10,000 pounds a day, that’s 20-30 bags a minute, can be packaged depending on the product packaged and the number of volunteers involved.
Thanks to FEMA’s assistance and other donor support, we were able to rebuild our bulk packaging machinery to working conditions. Now, we need volunteers for Monday through Friday from 8-12pm and 1-4pm to help fight hunger in our service area. Please click here to learn more about signing up to volunteer for the bulk packaging volunteer position.
Kicking Off the Summer With Cooking Matters
