Utah Service Projects: Spending Time at The Utah Food Bank

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It's called Trick or Treating at the Utah Food Bank and I'm hooked.

Have ever thought about doing some volunteer work with the family but just haven't known where to begin? Volunteering for the Food Bank is a great place to start. I recently spent an evening at The Utah Food Bank during their annual Milk Drive with friends, where we put together food packs for the Kids BackPack program.

On Friday's during the school year, children participating in the program receive a nondescript backpack containing easy-to-prepare, child-friendly food to help sustain them through the weekend. We packed up Mac and Cheese, shelf stable milk, Juice, Raisins, Breakfast Bars and other health conscious items for the kids to eat during the weekend.

Our packs are then sent to a designated school employee who will load them into children’s backpacks on Friday's. With an estimated 1 in 5 children going hungry in the state of Utah, 1000's of kids rely on this program. Last year, Utah Food Bank filled over 60,000 backpacks around the state. The program keeps kids in need from going hungry over the weekend when school programs aren't available.

The Utah Food Bank also has a box program for seniors and persons with disabilities. This UFB Food Box Program for Salt Lake County residents, provides assistance for those in need by delivering a box that contains about a week's worth of non-perishable food, milk and fresh produce. Last year nearly 41,000 food boxes were delivered. For information about either of these programs contact the Utah Food Bank.

As we approach the time where “Giving Back” is foremost on our minds, consider rounding up your family and friends for an evening of Trick or Treating at the Utah Food Bank. The rewards are priceless.

I have an announcement. If you been keeping up, you know about our Hands 4 Helping. As a result of your efforts, we just wrote out a check to the Utah Food Bank. The money will be used to purchase food items to support these two important programs. That's just a portion of what we have accumulated. I'll be spotlighting other charities we have supported throughout the rest of the holiday season. Read more about Helping Hands and how it's working here.

Find out more about the projects going on at the Utah Food Bank here.