Local Food Bank Expresses Great Need Of Volunteers

Hays County Food Bank is looking for healthy people who can donate time throughout the week in their warehouse and on food rescue runs.

It takes a village, and the food bank is calling on its village to help out.

Masks are mandatory and social distancing is practiced whenever possible. Hand washing is required when gloves are changed and in between tasks.

Gloves must be worn when handling any food and must be changed when switching between food types (meat to produce to bread, etc.).

Food Rescue

The small staff of employees is swamped and needs help with picking up food from local grocery and restaurant partners.

Drivers, along with 1-2 assistants, are tasked with receiving food from locations throughout Hays County.

Drivers and assistants must wear their masks at all times when not alone. Vans are disinfected after each use. 

Warehouse

Staff is currently in the warehouse processing food from food rescue and community donations. In an average week, more than 21,000 pounds of food are processed.

However, the Food Bank says they need help.

The food bank needs able-bodied volunteers to help weigh, inspect, sort, and load food for distributions around the county. While the warehouse and processing rooms are small, the food bank is very safety-conscious.

All staff and volunteers are to wear their masks, practice social distancing, use gloves when handling food, and wash their hands frequently throughout their shift.

Sign Up Now

Volunteers are vital to the success of the food bank. Without them, the small staff would not be able to provide assistance to thousands of people in need each month. If residents are ready, willing, and able, visit http://haysfoodbank.org/give-time.aspx and get their volunteer journey with the organization started.

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2 Comments

  1. They had volunteers who quit. But only after having experienced a complete lack of order, honesty or rules.

    I know, I was a volunteer. You start out thinking, wow, I can actually help and maybe even learn something in the process. But the only thing I learned was there was no process. The Hays Food Bank does not investigate the identity of anyone applying for food, despite IRS rules which mandate the applicant must be within the financial guidelines. Hence, hundreds of new model vehicles line up at every food give-a-way location. The unknown people in these cars haul off hundreds of pounds of food donated by donor local grocery outfits such as HEB and others. Yeah, and you’re running around in the hot sun loading up the trunks of these cars thinking, wow, I’ve never seen such well groomed poverty. People even arrive at these locations and ask, “How do we sign up?” and simply get handed a card with their alleged name written on it. Come one, come all, including undocumented immigrants.

    Next, the Food Bank turns around and provides their donors with “in kind” receipts for purposes of IRS write-offs. The truth is, the Hays County Food Bank has no idea of who received these foods and whether those people were actually qualified. Accordingly, this is how their well paid director Eleanor Owen-Oshan makes seventy-thousand dollars a year, plus benefits.

    Oh, and me and my boyfriend actually chased down one of the homeless people after they got run off from one of the locations because they didn’t have a vehicle. Gotta say they were a lot more forgiving than I would have been, had I been them and had the Food Bank done this to me.

    A “great need for volunteers”, indeed.

  2. Your bitterness is understandable. But I urge you and all others to first: forgive the flaws which are appearing in nearly all charitable programs. Then, set about finding how you can make things better. What can YOU do to make sure Resources are more fairly distributed? Also: just because someone drives a new car, that does not mean they have cash on hand or a lucrative job. Many people bought new cars, homes, etc. when finances looked abundant. Now their jobs are gone. Tens of thousands of breadwinners are dead from coronavirus. How will their families go on without the money to make payments, mortgages, bills? How about you? Do you still have a job, plenty of food put by? If not, I will help you. Not judge you. Lucywiley@verizon.net

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