As Hurricane Dorian churned away up the East Coast of the Carolinas, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle staff and volunteers stepped up to be good neighbors to those affected by the storm’s fury. An army of volunteers from the Food Shuttle offices joined forces with their fellows from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to pack disaster relief meal boxes for folks in Wilmington and New Bern, where storm conditions had already forced food bank closures. Workers of all ages formed double assembly lines, packing boxes of cereal, canned goods, pasta, peanut butter and snack crackers—all along serenaded by the tunes of the Rolling Stones, the B52s, Portugal the Man, Tom Petty and others. By the end of three hours of working in the Food Bank warehouse, the crew had packed up 29,670 lbs. of food which will translate to 24,725 meals for Dorian’s victims on the coast. Maya Ticku, a student intern at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle who volunteered at the event, said, “It was nice to come together with others in the area to help give back. It is very rewarding to know that a little effort can make a big difference in someone’s life.”
In other efforts to make a difference in the lives of those affected by Hurricane Dorian, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle held a short-lived campaign to raise funds to purchase bottled drinking water to send to send to the coast. In the first 36 hours, the campaign raised over $4,800. “This money will go far in providing a critical item to our neighbors devastated by the storm. We’re touched by the level of the response,” said Rachel Quigley, Communications and Events Manager at Food Shuttle.