Mayor Tom Henry and the Parks & Recreation Department’s Employee Task Force presented a check for $3,085.50 to the Community Harvest Food Bank today. Five hundred, eighty-five dollars and fifty-two cents were collected from patrons of the Hotel California concert at Foellinger Theatre Saturday, May 24. The balance of almost $2,500 came from concert proceeds.
This collection was coordinated by the Employee Task Force for Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation, and was one of many service efforts the employees have been responsible for.
“One of the missions of the Employee Task Force is to do ‘good works and community service.’ In the past they’ve always concentrated on projects that benefit those we serve, such as the youth and seniors who utilize our facilities,” said Parks & Recreation Director Al Moll. “This year, they decided to give back to an organization that partners with us to provide those much needed services. Community Harvest Food Bank provides food for our Kids Café After School Program and the Weekend BackPack Program.”
Information about the Kids Café and Kids BackPack programs:
- Kids Café is an afterschool feeding program for children at risk of hunger.
- CHFB partners with other organizations like the Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department’s Jennings, Cooper, and Weisser Park Youth Centers, who prepare and serve nutritious meals each evening.
- Last year 69,715 meals were served to more than 550 children per day during the school year - a total of 99,992 pounds of food!
- Kids BackPack helps feed the need on the weekends or during school vacations when some kids have limited, and in some cases, no access to food.
- BackPacks are filled with "kid-friendly" meals and discreetly distributed to children on the last day before the weekend at community centers throughout northeast Indiana.
- At present, 147 BackPacks are distributed weekly at 7 different sites.
- Last year 58,120 pounds of food were distributed through Kids BackPack.
About Community Harvest Food Bank
Community Harvest Food Bank “seeks to alleviate hunger through the full use of donated food and other resources.” Community Harvest Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization in northeast Indiana. Community Harvest Food Bank serves 21,100 people weekly and distributes nearly 13 million pounds of food annually. Community Harvest Food Bank has served northeast Indiana since 1983 and continues to proudly serve the community as the only AIB certified Indiana Food Bank. For more information, visit http://www.communityharvest.org/
