zvelo Donated an Afternoon to Volunteer at Food Bank of the Rockies
On the afternoon of August 15, 2017, zvelo employees based out of its Greenwood Village (Denver Tech Center) headquarters headed over to the Food Bank of the Rockies’ central distribution warehouse facility on East 45th Avenue in Denver, Colorado.
The Food Bank of the Rockies, originally founded in 1978 as the Colorado Food Clearing House, expresses its mission statement as to help families thrive by efficiently procuring and distributing food and essentials to the hungry through its programs and partner agencies. In addition to its largest distribution center in Denver, the Food Bank of the Rockies also has two other locations on the Western Slope of Colorado in Palisade and in Wyoming in Casper. Together, these three branches provide food and other essentials for living (such as baby care products, vitamins, over-the-counter medicines, etc.) to more than 500 hunger-relief programs servicing the Metro Denver area, the Eastern Plains, and the Western Slope of Colorado, as well the entire state of Wyoming.
When zvelo arrived at the Food Bank of the Rockies, we were warmly greeted and then ushered into their meeting room. We were told how we would be helping during our volunteer experience and shown a quick safety-related video. Our speaker relayed the incredible impact that the Food Bank of the Rockies has accomplished through its food and supplies distribution channels to Kids Programs, Partner Meal Sites and Pantries, Mobile Pantries, Food Rescues, and Senior CSFP Boxes.
Did you know that one U.S. dollar equals 4 meals with 96 cents of every dollar donated going toward food distribution? In fact, 1 in 7 Coloradans worry about about where their next meal will come from. Also, it’s hard to be believe but true that only about 10% of the recipients of food distributed by the Food Bank of the Rockies is served to the homeless population. The Food Bank of the Rockies also helps to serve those who hold low wage jobs, seniors on fixed incomes, and those with health issues, however, nearly half of the food distributed by Food Bank of the Rockies goes to children in need who struggle with hunger.
Employees of zvelo volunteers assisted at a wide variety of stations along the path of distribution.
In receiving, zvelo employees unpacked donated items and sanitized the non-perishable goods (mostly jarred and 
canned) with a cloth soaked in a cleaning solution. The team saw many of jars of peanut butter – which is nutritious, filling, calorie dense and a great healthy-eating option.
After having been properly sanitized, the items were placed on a conveyor belt where they traveled to the sorting section of the facility. Volunteers from zvelo sorted the donated items according to the specifications set up by Food Bank of the Rockies, and placed specific items together in bins before these items moved to the boxing portion of their distribution journey.
Workers from zvelo helped to pack the goods, according to specific weights per carton, before the boxes then passed through Quality Control to double-check the weight and product contained.
Next the boxes were moved by our zvelo volunteers to be housed within the distribution warehouse storage area. 
When finished with the distribution process for the day, zvelo employees cleaned up any stray materials by sweeping and consolidated leftover boxing materials for recycling.
As a highly-performing team with a competitive spirit, zvelo employees worked very quickly (but safely) that afternoon and wanted to know how they contributed to the Food Bank of the Rockies numbers. To our sheer delight, the Food Bank of the Rockies was able to provide us with a report of our achievements (together with the efforts of 9 other volunteers that afternoon):
- Food unpacked, cleaned, and re-packed for distribution = 8800 pounds
- This food would feed 5404 families of four across Colorado and Wyoming
- Total number of meals = 21,616 individual meals
We felt as though our hours were well spent volunteering at Food Bank of the Rockies. We are so fortunate to work for a company like zvelo that cares about volunteering within its own neighborhood to help out other communities across the Colorado and Wyoming.
If you are interested in volunteering or donating to the Food Bank of the Rockies, visit http://www.foodbankrockies.org.
