New technology continues to make donations go further
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.
Thanks to FEMA’s assistance and other donor support, we were able to rebuild our bulk packaging machinery to working conditions. In 2019 the rebuilding of our bulk packaging machinery was completed making us 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 during 2019. We were 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 upward of 30 bags a minute packaged depending on the product packaged and the number of volunteers involved.
“Efficiency is the way we survive. We have to maximize the value of every donor’s dollar and that is what they expect of us,” said Mike Manning, CEO and President of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. “They want us to have the most impact with every dollar so that we can truly make a difference in our community and feed more people.”
Your gift to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is the most effective way to meet the greatest need.
Community Garden partnership takes root to benefit Food Bank
