Triangle Impact volunteers do their part to fight hunger

Every month Triangle Impact volunteers sort and package donated food at the North Carolina Food Bank in Raleigh. At a recent event, a group of volunteers spent those two hours packaging sweet potatoes to be distributed to over 860 partnering agencies, such as shelters, pantries and soup kitchens throughout North Carolina.

The NC Food Bank often receives donations of sweet potatoes from local area farmers that have recently completed their crop harvest. The donated potatoes are generally too small or too large to be sold in grocery stores, so instead of letting them go to waste they are sent to the Food Bank where they are then distributed to the community. Even the few rotten potatoes that may be found are not wasted, they are given to farmers for livestock feed.

The potatoes arrive in large 4 by 4 foot bins, which are not ideal for sending perishable food to the partner agencies. So volunteers, like the ones from Triangle Impact, are needed to break down the load into smaller, more manageable units. Once the potatoes have been packaged into bags of "family-sized" portions, they are ready to be distributed. The impact of our volunteers can be felt the very next day, as the food prepared the previous night is distributed daily.

About the NC Food Bank:
Established in 1980, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is a non-profit organization that provides food to people at risk of hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina. In 2004-05, the Food Bank distributed over 31 million pounds of food to more than 860 partner agencies including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and after school programs for children.