United Way Services of Geauga County gathered over 200 volunteers on October 15 at the West Woods Geauga Park to assemble over 50,000 meals to stock local food pantries. Volunteers donned hairnets and aprons and added all ingredients in assembly-line fashion, finishing with a nutritionally balanced bag of macaroni and cheese. The food packaging system was created by Outreach, an organization that provides hunger relief internationally and in the United States.
“What a great way to bring lots of folks together to provide a basic staple for the Geauga Hunger Task Force,” says Sue Wilder, Board Member for United Way and packaging volunteer. “We are always looking to engage the community in United Way’s work, and this was a fun way to do it.”
Seniors from the Chesterland Senior Center, students from Ledgemont Schools, Girl Scouts, community members and employees from local businesses were put to work packaging food in two-hour shifts. All the food was given to the Geauga Hunger Task Force food pantries and other organizations that feed the hungry.
“We could not have done this without the major support of our community,” says Kimm Leininger, Executive Director of United Way. “Local businesses, schools and other organizations really stepped up to help, both financially and with volunteers.The number of people served by the Geauga Hunger Task Force goes up every year, with the biggest rise in our senior population. This event provided a staple food that the pantries can distribute. They were very happy to get this amount of food,” said Leininger.
In fall 2014, United Way has formed coalitions to improve education, financial stability and health in Geauga County. Check out what’s new at United Way online or on Facebook.
