“Fighting Hunger…..Feeding Hope” is the mission statement for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO). Gateway recently took a small part in helping the RFBO achieve this goal. You may or may not be aware, that Oklahoma is one of the hungriest states in the country and when we were told that 1 in 4 children in our state go hungry every day; it broke our hearts. Our team at Gateway works hard to ensure that we are giving back to our communities that we live and work in. Multiple times per year, we not only donate food and resources to the RFBO; but also spend time packaging everything from tomatoes to frozen chicken enchiladas.
Recently, we had the privilege to bag food for the “student’s backpack program.” This program is critical because it provides nutritional support for those children most in need over the weekends. The backpack program initiated because a child in Oklahoma had passed out in the breakfast line at school on a Monday morning. That child had not had a meal since he had left school on Friday. The backpack program is one that interested our team from our very first volunteer event and dollar donated to the RFBO.
Our team packaged crackers, cereal, meat sticks, milk and juice; among other items neatly placed in a bag for Oklahoma children. 100% of the donations made to the RFBO are utilized in a local capacity and have positively affected over 18,000 kids in 512 elementary schools across the state. During our visit, the team nearly 7,000 lbs. of food helping just under 2,100 hungry children. Our team walked away with a real sense of accomplishment. Although we know this doesn’t fix the problem, our team was able to have a positive effect on our state’s “hunger problem” by volunteering at the RFBO.
Some interesting facts showing why we support this great organization:
- The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s administrative cost is only 4%. 96% of all donations go right into feeding hungry Oklahoman’s
- They stretch the dollar extremely well. Every dollar that is donated to the RFBO is turned into 5 meals.
- 1 in 4 children and 1 in 6 adults in our state our Hungry. 25% of children in our state go to bed hungry every night. This is something that we have to work on changing.
Gateway is committed to the RFBO and supporting their goal of ending hunger in Oklahoma. If you would like to donate or volunteer at the RFBO, please see the link below.
https://www.regionalfoodbank.org/
