Target employees volunteer day of service at Omaha food bank on MLK Day
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - One way thousands of people honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this Monday is with a day of service.
“We’ve been packaging a lot of take-home meals for kids,” said Kevin Rodgers of Target store at 72nd & Dodge.
On this MLK Day, volunteers in red took over the Food Bank for the Heartland for a day of service. If the shirts look familiar, you’ve probably shopped at a Target store before.
That’s where these 45 employees are usually found during the work week.
“With the general state of the state now, it’s good to give back in every way we possibly can. They’re giving up their time with families to give back to other families,” said Rodgers.
They’re taking boxes of food and turning them into something more portable, and with variety. Right now, one in nine people in our viewing area are considered food insecure, one in six are children.
“The need now to help our neighbors is critical. With the continued effects of the pandemic -- paired with the cost of food now -- it’s creating economic hardships for so many. We’re seeing more and more people who are coming in for the first time -- or they’re in the vicious cycle of continuing to need our services,” said Stephanie Sullivan, Communications for Food Bank of the Heartland.
The hope is these volunteers talk to friends and families and put together an army of their own to come back and serve. The Food Bank for the Heartland could use the help all year long.
“We did 5 pallets in an hour-and-a-half,” said Rodgers.
The fruits of their labor will soon become personal to one of our neighbors.
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