Written by Maria Montaro
Due to the current COVID-19 crisis we’ve had to social distance ourselves from our volunteers and drastically cut back the number of individuals we work with to fulfill our mission.
On an annual basis the Food Bank relies on more than 6,000 volunteers to provide support in everything we do. None of our programs would be possible without the time and dedication of our volunteers and we are grateful to them for their unwavering support.
Despite not being able to see many of our dedicated volunteers at this time, we still want to celebrate Volunteer Appreciation Week the best way we can – virtually. This week we will highlight the work of our wonderful regular volunteers who serve alongside us year-round.
In 2019, our volunteers donated more than 58,000 hours of their time and as a result they:
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- Processed 4,564,640 pounds of food in our repack center
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- Packed 66,718 CSFP Boxes, helping more than 6,000 seniors in need
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- Participated in 213 Produce to People distributions which distributed 3,353,957 pounds of fresh food, served 91,403 households
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- Folded 24,986 letters which raised $316,824
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- Performed 1,527 hours of clerical and project support tasks
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- Completed 395 SNAP applications which created $1,459,556 in local economic impact and generated 312,987 meals
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- Gleaned at 26 local farms which harvested 70,000 pounds of fresh produce
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- Packed 22,672 backpack inserts providing more than 2,500 students with meals over the weekend
Additionally, to date through our response to the COVID-19 crisis, 615 volunteers have donated 2,400 hours of assistance to the community. Without the assistance from these wonderful individuals, meeting the need of the community through our emergency drive-up food distributions would be nearly impossible.
“There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.” – Mandy Hale
To those who have stepped up to help through this crisis, you are amazing and we appreciate you. Over the past four weeks you have helped us distribute nearly 500,000 pounds of food to more than 9,000 vehicles.
To those who would normally be volunteering with us but cannot at this time, we miss you, you are in our thoughts daily and we look forward to the day that we can be together again.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for helping us fulfill our mission of feeding people in need and mobilizing the community to eliminate hunger. You make such a huge difference to our neighbors across southwestern Pennsylvania.