A team from Temple Israel spent an afternoon volunteering at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia on Monday, Jan. 21.
After a brief introduction and instructional video, the group, which ranged in age from 13 to 75, assisted with quality assurance by assessing donated non-perishable food, then sorting them into bins in a kind of reverse grocery shopping.
One volunteer packed bags of kidfriendly food for the Foodbank’s Backpack program, which distributes the packs to elementary school children every other week so they have access to nutritious food over the weekend.
“Helping out at the Foodbank was more fun than I expected” says Eli Bilderback, 13. “I’m glad I got a chance to help on a school day off.”
For the past 30 years the Foodbank has helped feed the hungry in Tidewater by distributing food through almost 400 partner agencies and programs, including soup kitchens, faith-based pantries, neighborhood centers, family crisis centers, senior centers, and homeless shelters for adults and children.
The Foodbank receives food from restaurants, supermarkets, food distributors, the USDA, farmers, wholesalers, sportsmen, food and fund drives, and through purchased product, when donations alone cannot meet demand. For more information, visit www.foodbankonline.org.