Feed Palm Beach Co. Day Host 2nd Annual Event!
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The Rotary Club of West Palm Beach, Racing to the Rescue, The Palm Beach County Food Bank and over 400 community volunteers gathered at Gaines Park on Saturday, March 28, 2015 to package 100,000 Outreach, Inc. Rice and Bean meals to feed the needy.
“With one in six children in Palm Beach County at risk of going to bed hungry every night, we are redoubling our efforts this year,” said Feed Palm Beach County Day Co-Chair and West Palm Beach Rotary Club member Tony Lofaso. “It was a great community event with great volunteers. The recognition that food scarcity is a reality in our bountiful county and there are people who will support us financially so we can feed Palm Beach County is astonishing.”
“By packing 100,000 meals we want to bring attention to this issue while helping to feed the hungry in our community,” added event Co-Chair Alan Mentser of Racing To The Rescue.
Seventy-five percent of the meals will be distributed to the hungry in the community by the Palm Beach County Food Bank through more than 100 local
non-profit organizations that are on the front line of feeding the hungry. The remaining twenty-five percent of the meals will be distributed directly to food pantries at public schools in the City of West Palm Beach and to the food pantry at Gaines Park.
Perry Borman, Executive Director, Palm Beach County Food Bank said, “We are grateful for the leadership shown by The Rotary Club of WPB and Racing to the Rescue and all of the event sponsors in raising the funds to purchase these meals. The overwhelming outpouring of support from the more than 400 volunteers who participated is heartwarming. People care about the hungry in our community. On behalf of the more than 100 agencies we serve and the hungry families and individuals who will receive the meals, we are sincerely appreciative of this outstanding effort.”
Martha Ann Kneiss of the Palm County Food Bank said, “The first volunteers who arrived were from the agencies we serve who are on the front line of hunger relief in Palm Beach County and see the staggering need of our community.”
Ryan Tavakoli of K&M Electric had this to say, “K&M was honored to be able to help contribute to such a worthwhile cause, combating the unfortunate reality of food insecurity that affects the communities we live in and serve. K&M is solicited to help support various causes throughout each year. We look to support efforts that are of great need, highly impactful and within our community. Feed PBC meets all of those for us. We are thrilled to know the goal of 100K meals packed was reached and we are looking forward to helping in next years’ effort to pack even more meals for those in our county who need it the most.”
Floyd Hammer, founder of Outreach, Inc., said, “We finished much earlier than we anticipated because people were so excited to be a part of something so important. My wife, Kathy, and I are long-time Rotarians and it is a pleasure to work across the U.S. with other Rotary groups like the Rotary Club of West Palm Beach. This is the second year of this event and we are told this is now going to be an annual event. We love this partnership between Rotary and Outreach: Together, we make a difference!”
Local officials participating included Palm Beach County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, West Palm Beach City Commissioner Sylvia Moffett, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Michael Gauger.
Presenting sponsors were: Racing To The Rescue, Janet & Bob Nakushian, West Palm Beach Rotary Club, Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Palm Beach, K & M Electric, Palm Beach County Bank, Tire Kingdom, Tony & Blanca Lofaso, Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath, Palm Beach County Sheriff Foundation, Knights of Columbus Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Outlet Mall, Watman & Associates, Christ Fellowship and Rotary Club of Wellington.
For more information about having a meal-packaging event read this: Ten Easy Steps to Host a Meal Packaging Event!
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