(Photo courtesy of Timothy Grant, OPM).
For the second year in a row, Federal Employees have come together to collect nonperishable food donations for individuals and families nationwide. The Feds Feed Families Food Drive is a summer long initiative led by the Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council. The Capital Area Food Bank is thrilled to receive the local donations, during a period when we traditionally experience a drop in donations.
To encourage participation, various agencies are holding fun and creative events throughout the summer. On Wednesday morning, I was lucky enough to attend the Feds Get Fit While Feeding Families event, held in the basement of the Department of Interior. Federal Employees were encouraged to bring food donations to earn admission to the event. As part of the “Get Fit” event, they were invited to participate in hula hoop, golf, basketball and even Wii contests. Later the group broke out into a low-impact cardio workout. What fun!
Over the course of the summer, we have seen this food drive morph into much more! Several groups of federal employees have toured the food bank; others have spent their Saturdays sorting canned goods in our warehouse. A few federal agencies have held their own cookouts, festivals and fairs to rally support for the food drive. There have been reports of fun competitions all throughout often with embarrassing consequences at stake.
Here at the Capital Area Food Bank, we are not only thankful for the food donations during the summer months, but we are pleased to see hunger awareness spread throughout our community.
The next Feds Feed Families collection date is scheduled for August 31st. We can’t wait for the results!