On July 20, the Food and Nutrition Services leadership team donated their time at the Community Harvest Food Bank warehouse. In addition to lending manpower, the team learned about all of the families the food bank serves by providing nearly 11 million meals a year throughout northeast Indiana. The team bagged green beans donated by a local farmer, and separated food into categories so that it could be stored properly on the food bank shelves, among other tasks.
We asked Wesley Oburn, corporate director, Food and Nutrition Services, to share more about the team’s recent volunteer experience.
What inspired you to participate in this project?
I wanted to organize a team activity that was both humbling and had a positive impact on our community. Giving our time to the Community Harvest Food Bank is a natural fit for the Food and Nutrition Service Team.
How many volunteers did you have?
We had 30 volunteers (supervisors, sous chefs, managers, chefs and directors).
What did the day entail?
We bagged four pallets of green beans, sorted thousands of non-perishable food items and household supplies, and stocked the community harvest storefront.
Why is giving back so important?
In the Food and Nutrition Service department, food and hospitality define our lives. As a team, we served more than 3 million meals to patients, guests and co-workers last year. We do this because food and nourishment are some of the basic needs for human survival; Something that we take for granted far too often. Our teams have the privilege of fulfilling this need every day. It is our duty to serve those in our community that need it the most. The true meaning of hospitality is serving when you don’t have to.
What impact do you hope to have on the community?
To create awareness that hunger is a real issue in all communities. Organizations like the Community Harvest Food Bank need our help to operate and continue to make an impact on families that need it most. It took a mere 4 hours out of our days to support providing thousands of meals.
What do you want others to know?
That it’s so easy to volunteer. You can just reach out to Cara Twiss at CTwiss@communityharvest.org