“I know the second Wednesday of every month, I’m always right there at the doorway, waiting.”
Merck volunteer team breaks record at Child Food Hub
Ending hunger in our community is a group effort, but that doesn’t mean our volunteers can’t engage in a little friendly competition!
On July 20th, a team of fifteen volunteers from Merck pharmaceutical company arrived at the Child Food Hub in Durham to pack family meal boxes. These boxes provide meals to hungry families across seven counties in North Carolina. Learn more about volunteering at our Child Food Hub here.
When the volunteer team learned from staff that the record for family meal box packing was 421 boxes in one shift, they were immediately determined to break this record. They worked hard through the morning, filling box after box with nutritious food. At the end of their shift, they were proud to learn that they had packed 493 family meal boxes, beating the previous record by 72 boxes!
“The Merck volunteers were so efficient and kind,” shares Candace Burch, warehouse associate at the Child Food Hub. “We loved them and welcome them back any time!”
Thank you to the Merck team for a wonderful group packing event! We truly appreciate your enthusiasm and dedication and look forward to continuing this wonderful partnership.
Do you think your team has what it takes to break Merck’s record? Group volunteering events like this serve as wonderful team-building activities while also making a positive impact on our community. Learn more about similar group volunteering opportunities here. Please contact Marc Holaday, volunteer services manager, at Marc@foodshuttle.org with any further questions.
Grocery Bags for Seniors Expands Into Rural Counties
Volunteer Appreciation Month: We Love Our Volunteers!
Mobile Market Provides Food and Hope to Neighbors in Johnston County
The need for healthy food brings neighbors back to the Johnston County Mobile Market each month, and they are not alone. Nearly 80,000 people across the Food Shuttle’s service area lost monthly benefits of at least $95 per family when the SNAP Emergency Allotments were rolled back in March. Over 9,000 of them live in Johnston County, including Sarah, Jim and Luther.
Gladys' Story: "The things God gives to us, we're supposed to share with others."
At La Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Durham, Mobile Market coordinator Walkiria Castillo introduced us to Gladys., one of the neighbors who attends the Mobile Market each month to pick up free groceries, fresh produce, and baked goods. Gladys uses the food items she receives to supplement her family’s food budget as she takes care of the nine people in her household
The Food Shuttle Responds to Unique Challenges of Senior Nutrition
Now is a Great Time to Hold a Food Drive
Food drives support many of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s hunger relief programs. The shelf-stable items our neighbors donate are packed into Grocery Bags for Seniors, stock School Pantries, provide nutritious meals for Mobile Markets, and so much more. You can help build up the foundation for the foods we provide to our neighbors in need by holding a food drive with your own community—and we’ll help every step of the way!
Double Your Impact During Our $105,000 Spring Match Challenge
Spring is finally here and everything is abloom! Beginning April 1, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your gift to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle during our Spring Match Challenge. All gifts made through May 31 will be matched up to $105,000, thanks to our generous funders, including the Mead Family Foundation and SOLV Energy.
Farmers' Produce Initiative: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Every once in a while, an idea comes along that is so simple in concept and makes so much sense that you wonder why things haven’t been running that way all along. That’s what happened with the produce initiative at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The idea was to buy produce at wholesale prices from limited-resourced local farmers and connect those farmers to partner agencies in their area who are distributing to neighbors in need.