WPTV Channel 5 newscast- 93 year old Fills Days Volunteering (BHH Volunteer, Hank Feniger)
Boca Helping Hands Surpasses One Million Pounds for 2013!!
Each year brings a new program and a new initiative at Boca Helping Hands. Today, Esperanza Catering at Boca Helping Hands is training its third class of students for new careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our Resource Center is looking for new agencies with whom to collaborate to better serve our clients. Our BHH Backpack program has added two more schools for the 2013-2014 school year. But at the heart of what we do, Boca Helping Hands remains a source of nutritious food for those who are struggling.
Food in....food out...it's what we do best. Since opening the Remillard Family Resource Center in 2010, our "food recovery" efforts have been extremely successful:
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pounds of Food Recovered | 323,973 | 833,907 | 1,427,976 | ???? |
Last year, we surpassed One Million Pounds of food for the year for the first time on October 18th. This year, Boca Helping Hands is doing even better. Today (July 19th), at 11:00 A.M., we received our One Millionth Pound of food for the year, courtesy of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Employee Food Drive. The employees of Boca Raton Regional Hospital donated 2,136 pounds of assorted canned goods which brought our year-to-date total to: 1,001,684 pounds of food....in just six and a half months.
Our amazing warehouse team, led by Director of Food and Warehouse Operations Bill Harper is to be congratulated. Together with our part time driver, Jack Mentley, Bill and his regular volunteers are now recovering, receiving, processing, storing and distributing over 150,000 pounds of food each month. Out on the road, our Food Recovery volunteers, Pete Rather, David Kalen, Curtiss and Margi Cross, Col. Buddy Harris, Summer Faerman, Florence Teisch, Susan Mersch, David Adams, Myron White, Jim Hole, Andy Brown, Chuck Berky, J.W. Dunlop and Mel Lazerick keep the food flowing.
And none of this would be possible without our generous food recovery partners. Feeding South Florida and the Palm Beach County Food Bank do all they can to keep pantries and soup kitchens stocked with food. Through Feeding South Florida, Boca Helping Hands has been receiving product from several Winn-Dixie, Target, Wal-Mart and Publix locations for nearly two years. In addition, our own recovery partners (Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Papajohn's, Mizner Productions, Olive Garden, Deliver Lean, Infinity Sales Group, Silver Sac Catering, Grand Lux Café, Rocco's Tacos, Cheesecake Factory, Starbucks, Panera, Offerdahls, Purity Foods, and Whole Foods) make regular donations of product, often several times each week. And of course, locally, schools, churches and synagogues, and many local businesses too numerous to mention hold regular canned food drives to support our pantry program. Together, this team of concerned citizens has helped Boca Helping Hands surpass One Million Pounds of food for 2013....and all by mid-July. Care to try for TWO MILLION POUNDS by year's end??
With respect,
James S. Gavrilos, Executive Director
Boca Helping Hands
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