According to the USDA, in 2019 there are more than 37 million people who struggle with hunger or food insecurity across the United States. More than 11 million of those are children. In Colorado, there are close to 600,000 people who struggle with hunger — one out of nine people, and one out of seven of those are children. While the reasons each household struggles may vary from job loss, to medical expenses to stagnant wages and rising costs of living, the impact is felt in all age groups from infants to seniors.
Every day, the Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) works with volunteers and partner organizations to provide food and supplies to more than 600 hunger-relief programs across Colorado. FBR distributes more than 145,000 meals each day through its programs and agencies and nearly 50% of those meals to go hungry children.
FBR has a pool of more than 23,000 volunteers, who last year donated nearly 123,000 hours of time. zvelo is proud to be a long-time supporter of the FBR by volunteering each quarter to add to the total number of hours donated as well as the total number of meals packaged and prepared for distribution.
Yesterday, December 10th, the zvelo team based in the Greenwood Village office, headed to the organization’s warehouse. The team spent the afternoon unpacking and sorting thousands of pounds of donated food, personal care and even pet items. As the pallets were unpacked and sorted, items were weighed and repackaged into category specific boxes including: Cereal and Grains, Snacks and Desserts, Beverages, Fruits and Vegetables, Baby Food, and more.
The zvelo team, along with other teams of volunteers that afternoon, unloaded and sorted 10 pallets of goods. Those goods were then packed into 400 different boxes of food, weighing in at 9,200 pounds. Based on the formula used by the FBR, those boxes will provide 7,700 meals to those in need.
A special thanks to Food Bank of the Rockies for allowing us the opportunity to give back to our local communities!
