ALEXANDRIA, Va.—More than 128,000 meals will be served in the coming year with food donated by NCUA staff to the annual Feds Feed Families food drive.
Agency employees donated 153,752 pounds of food during the 2015 drive, a 65% increase from the previous year. NCUA said a major contributor to the success of this year’s food drive was a gleaning operation led by Terri Finley-Harrigan, of the Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, and Angela Sanders, of the chairman’s office, that yielded 103,300 pounds of food. Finley-Harrigan and Sanders collected food from warehouses and direct from farms.
“These tremendous results happen because of the dedication, teamwork, creativity and enthusiasm of NCUA staff.” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. “It’s wonderful that NCUA’s contribution grew so strongly, but the important point is that thousands of people will have meals they might well have missed. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes life a little easier for people in need.”
NCUA’s 2015 donation is the equivalent of the take-off weight of a Boeing 737, two adult humpback whales, 44 Toyota Camrys, 2,795 English bulldogs or 20,501 average newborns, the agency said.
Donations from agency’s Central Office employees went to the Capital Area Food Bank. Through direct delivery and partnership with nearly 470 community organizations, the food bank serves more than 540,000 people annually. Donations included fresh food, whole-grain foods, canned fruits and vegetables, soups and stews, baking goods and baby food. Food banks around the country benefited from contributions by the agency’s regional offices.