MACON, Ga. — During our annual Stuff the Truck event last week, Central Georgians donated more than 56,000 pounds of food and gave more than $10,000. Altogether that is 132,000 meals.
Junior Journalist Cheynne Garnto and Khloe Thomas-Phelps went to the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank to see how they get all those canned goods to the people who need them.
Inside the food bank, Christina Ford works as the administrative assistant at the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank and she gave us all the details on the work they have done bringing in your donations.
“It took staff about 2 hours to unload everything off the trucks and then stage it in our volunteer room.” Ford said
That’s actually two hours per truck and Ford says four trucks were filled. During all three days of Stuff the Truck, the food items were separated out by type and set into their respective boxes inside the trucks.
All of the different boxes were loaded onto pallets and forklifted into the building. In all there was almost 57,000 pounds of food given and it's the food bank’s job to make sure all their 24 counties get the food they need.
“We have food pantries.. backpack programs..we have soup kitchens, we have residential facilities... so we have a wide variety of partner agencies.” Ford said.
It is a constant flow here with food being unloaded and re-loaded to go to different places that need it.
“It’s overwhelming. It's wonderful that everyone comes together not only during the holidays but all year round we get donations so its wonderful to see everyone come together and to give and that's what it's all about.” Ford said.
If you missed your chance to give during Stuff the Truck, you can still drop off non-perishable food items at the food bank Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.