Public Employees Break Another Record with 'Feed The Need'

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Volusia County, FL-Public employees collected more than 184,000 pounds of food during the sixth annual countywide “Feed the Need” public employee food drive.

That breaks the 2015 food drive record in which “Feed the Need”

raised more than 120,000 pounds of food and brings the total of the

six-year program to 591,000 pounds of food collected.

Participating organizations included Volusia County Government; Daytona

State College; Volusia County School Way Café and Volusia Basket

Brigade; Florida Health Department in Volusia County; Tetra Tech;

Ashbritt, Inc.; and the cities of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores,

DeBary, DeLand, Deltona, Edgewater, Holly Hill, New Smyrna Beach, Orange

City, Ormond Beach, Ponce Inlet, Port Orange and South Daytona.

The food drive, the brainchild of Volusia County Manager Jim Dinneen

and overseen by the county, took place Nov. 13 - 19 throughout Volusia

County as a friendly competition among public employees.

A separate element of the food drive included “Food for Fines” in

which library patrons with late fees received a $1 reduction of overdue

fines up to $25 for each boxed or canned non-perishable food item they

brought to the library. Food for Fines gathered 7,949 pounds of food.

According to Robert Thomas, branch manager of Second Harvest Food Bank

of Volusia/Flagler, the 184,000 pounds of food will feed more than 5,257

families for a week.

The food donation totals were announced during a presentation Dec. 15

to the Volusia County Council in DeLand. School Way Café was the top

collector among agencies, with the most pounds of food

collected—23,367 pounds— and the most food per full-time

employee—76.11 pounds per full-time employee.  The food and funds were

distributed to local food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers,

churches and other nonprofit organizations that are working to fight

hunger.