Midwest Food Bank (MFB) of Peachtree City is hosting several open summer volunteer days throughout June and July. Coined “Beat the Heat,” these summer volunteer days give community residents an opportunity to serve without scheduling or appointments, and they have brought much community involvement during the summer season.
“The Beat the Heat initiative has been a tremendous success. At the beginning of the summer we were fielding many phone calls from families and individuals wanting to volunteer, so we decided to create specific days and times for people to drop in and serve,” said Will Garner, executive director of Midwest Food Bank, Georgia Division.
The first Beat the Heat date at MFB brought 30 volunteers who packaged crackers and granola bars to be distributed to nonprofits. By the third Beat the Heat day on July 10, over 70 volunteers worked at five workstations organized at Midwest Food Bank. In three hours, 70 volunteers bagged over 4,000 pounds of black beans, 4 pallets of bulk cereal, and more than 40,000 granola bars. They also repackaged hundreds of boxes of miscellaneous food items and paper products.
“Beat the Heat has exceeded our expectations and has demonstrated this community’s willingness to help those in need. It’s been special to see parents and their children volunteering together and impacting thousands of lives while doing so,” said Garner.
Midwest Food Bank, Georgia Division, located in Peachtree City is one of seven Midwest Food Bank locations. MFB Georgia Division began operations in October 2011 and currently supports over 180 nonprofit agencies in a 300-mile radius of Atlanta area with food and supplies. As a faith-based organization, it is the mission of Midwest Food Bank to alleviate hunger and poverty by gathering and distributing food donations to nonprofit organizations and disaster sites without cost to the recipients.
