By Jason Meholick
Debbie Davidson works at the Food Bank of Western New York, where on a daily basis food is delivered to organizations and charities throughout Western New York. This is a look at one of the proud food bank employees and what is done on a daily basis.
The food bank is run by the American Harvest National Food Bank and is located at 91 Holt St. On a typical day at the food bank Davidson is a very busy person, working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. She performs multiple jobs because of the lack of volunteers there at any one time. These jobs include:
-
working the phones
-
organizing the deliveries
-
keeping track of shipments
-
taking orders for new shipments
-
data entry
Davidson is one of the few paid food bank employees. She makes more then minimum wage, the actual figure could not be disclosed because of company policy. Most of the other employees at the food bank are volunteers who work for nothing.
“When you work as hard as we do you have to find joy in helping others. If you don’t this is definitely not the right job for you.” Davidson says.
During a single day Davidson estimates that her work helps as many as 100 people. This will double during the holiday season. This is the hardest time of year for food bank employees because there is double the amount of work to be done.
The food bank deals with thousands of pounds of food at a time and Davidson keeps track of it all. This includes the food in storage and on the trucks. The trucks deliver the food in the counties of:
-
Niagara
-
Erie
-
Cattaraugus
-
Chautauqua
The food goes to many different places within these counties. These places include:
-
soup kitchens
-
food pantries
-
day care centers
-
emergency shelters
-
senior citizen programs
These people are the dedicated soldiers for the community who normally get little credit for what they do to help our community.
Debbie says: “We don’t need the credit; we just need the help of the community.”
Jason Meholick can be contacted at ChipMcMelo@verizon.net
http://www.cofchrist.org/hunger/pantry/default.asp
http://www.foodbankwny.org/public/html/about_us/mission_vision.htm
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=91+Holt+St,+14206&ll=42.881656,-78.831711&spn=0.021480,0.051207&hl=en
http://www.secondharvest.org/about_us/our_network/
|
