Hunger Never Retires
Within Oklahoma there are several programs put in place to help assist the impoverished, one of the assistant programs are the food banks assorted throughout Oklahoma, all together there are about 30 food banks in Oklahoma alone. Today I am going to focus on just a few, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.
The first food bank I will focus on is the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, which is located in Oklahoma City, OK. According to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma one in six adults and one in four children in Oklahoma struggle with hunger. This food bank accepts donations made by individuals as well as charitable partnerships made by companies. This food bank became the 21st member of the Feeding America network the first in the region, on May 15, 1980. The total size of the faculty is nearly 200,000 square- feet.
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is the largest private domestic hunger-relief charity in the state – providing enough food to feed more than 126,000 hungry Oklahomans every week, 37 percent of which are children. In 2016, the Regional Food Bank distributed 52 million pounds of food through a network of 1,300 charitable feeding programs and schools throughout 53 central and western Oklahoma counties.
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma owes its success to Rodney W. Bivens who is the founder of this great food bank. Rodney had faced the eye of the tiger himself when it came too hungry as a boy, after his father was disabled in a car accident; the Bivens’ family came to rely on friends, family and church to help them keep food on their table. With this in mind Rodney created many opportunities for people just like you and me to help pitch in and help with solutions like donation opportunities as well as volunteering opportunities, information on how to get involved can be found on the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma webpage.
The next food bank I will talk about is the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. The mission of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is to feed the hungry of eastern Oklahoma through a network of Partner Programs and to engage their communities in ending hunger. Their vision is food security, with dignity, for all eastern Oklahomans. They are the largest private hunger-relief organization in eastern Oklahoma.
Community Food Bank offers programs such as emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and senior citizen centers. They have provided more than 339,000 meals each week to people struggling with hunger. During 2016 they distributed more than 21.1 million pounds of food, 31 percent of which was fresh produce.
Community Food Bank offers two locations one in Tulsa and the other in McAlester. They provide food and other donated products to 450 Partner Programs in 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma. The Community Food Bank offers many different programs such as Mobile Eatery Food Trunk, Culinary Center (first in the nation), Food Distribution, Food For Kids Programs, Retail Store Donation Program, and Senior Servings. This food pantry also offers ways to volunteer and donate.
When we think about all the great ways to help the impoverished, we might still be left to wonder how can their still be hungry adults and children in Oklahoma? It comes from the lack of education within the Oklahoman population who buried the idea of the hungry and the poor for their own desires and gluttony. If we come together as a state and learn to give we will become a better state. We should learn to live simple so other can simply live.
