Volunteers Pack 1,400 Bags of Food for Senior Residents

Every year, United Way of the Greater Triangle hosts an annual Day of Caring and invites community volunteers to get hands-on with nonprofit organizations doing the on-the-ground work needed to eradicate poverty and increase social mobility in our communities.

During this year’s event, sponsored by Wells Fargo, more than 100 volunteers from United Way corporate partners including Wells Fargo, Deloitte, Fifth Third Bank, Publix, Hutchison Law Firm, and Vaco Raleigh packed the warehouse at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Durham. Together, they filled 1,400 bags with Thanksgiving meal ingredients that will be distributed to senior residents in the Greater Triangle who are experiencing poverty.

“Wells Fargo is committed to being a leader in corporate giving and building a legacy of serving and supporting our community. The Day of Caring event aligns with our company’s rich history and culture of giving and volunteering – and we are proud to make a profound impact in the Greater Triangle. We are also grateful for our team member’s dedication to volunteerism and we encourage them to be hands-on in our communities,” says Suzie Koonce, Wells Fargo’s Senior Community Relations Consultant – Triangle and Eastern North Carolina. “We all play a critical role in providing solutions to community challenges – and together, we can make a difference.”

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle supports individuals and families suffering from food insecurity in seven counties — Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham, Johnston, Nash, and Edgecombe — and in those areas, 257,210 don’t know where their next meal is coming from. With incredible community support, Inter-Faith saves 5.5 million pounds of healthy food (35% of which is fresh produce) from being thrown away and re-routes it to these people in need.

The Grocery Bags for Seniors program that United Way’s volunteers helped to pack is specifically designed to supplement the fixed income of older adults through door-to-door distribution.

To learn more about Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s programs, or to become an Inter-Faith volunteer, go to www.foodshuttle.org.