Last Thursday, more than 150 Food Lion employees turned the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina's Rowan County branch into a fast-moving assembly line, cranking out 8,000 dry-food boxes in roughly an hour during what organizers dubbed a "mini sort-o-rama." Each 40- to 50-pound box was packed with a balanced mix of protein, vegetables, fruits and grains for the food bank's school-based mobile pantry program.
"We love every opportunity to come out and help," said Lisa Owens, Food Lion's director of operations in Salisbury. She added that associates even turned the packing into a friendly competition, according to the Salisbury Post. Kay Carter, CEO of Second Harvest of Metrolina, told the same paper that the dry boxes typically hold about 16 items and that the school-based program requires roughly 50,000 to 60,000 boxes each year. Volunteers started at 9 a.m. and finished by 10 a.m., a pace organizers said helps the food bank stretch limited staffing and resources.
Corporate muscle keeps pantries moving
The pack took place at Second Harvest's Rowan branch at 385 Airport Road in Salisbury, a location the food bank opened to better serve Rowan and surrounding counties, per Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. The event was part of a broader push by Food Lion Feeds, the grocery chain's hunger-relief platform, which the company says has helped provide the equivalent of more than 1.5 billion meals and has committed to donating the equivalent of 3 billion meals by 2032, according to Food Lion. Those donations, along with volunteer hours, are the kind of support Second Harvest says keeps its school-based mobile pantries running.
Volunteer hours add up
Second Harvest reported logging 336,000 counter hours last year, the equivalent of roughly 180 additional staff members, and leaders say volunteer packing events turn those hours into food on shelves, the Salisbury Post reported. "If everyone was like Food Lion, there wouldn't be any hungry people," Kay Carter told the paper as she praised the company's financial and in-kind support for the food bank's programs.
Second Harvest and its partners run several large packing drives each year, and the food bank posts volunteer opportunities and upcoming events on its website for groups looking to help, according to Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. For now, the 8,000 boxes packed in Salisbury are headed to mobile pantries and partner agencies across the region, a clear example of how a few hours of teamwork can move a lot of food.
