In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, we’re celebrating our friends at LifePoint Health for their tremendous volunteer efforts.
Whether it is sorting food in our warehouse, hosting a Mobile Pantry, or assisting at a Kids Cafe, LifePoint Health volunteers have donated their time to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee in almost every way possible.
Fueled by their mission of “Making Communities Healthier,” last year, more than 30 groups of volunteers came to Second Harvest eager to roll up their sleeves and fight hunger.
In total, 399 volunteers provided 998 hours of service over just 11 months, and their combined efforts provided almost 200,000 meals to hungry families, children, and seniors in Middle Tennessee.
STEPPING UP WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
Those numbers are impressive, but LifePoint’s voluntarism is more than numbers on a page. Their volunteers are wholly committed to our mission, and this commitment was on full display during last fall’s devastating hurricane season.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, Second Harvest was asked to send more than 61,000 disaster relief boxes to Texas and Florida.
Coincidentally, this disaster relief effort occurred during our busiest time of year. If we were going to provide aid to hurricane-affected areas without scaling back our hunger relief efforts in Middle Tennessee, it was going to require a surge in volunteer support.
Enter LifePoint.
Their volunteers were among the first in the door to help during this time of need. LifePoint volunteer groups led by Ed O’Dell and Logan Simmons packed 34 pallets of disaster relief boxes. That’s almost 3,000 boxes of life-saving food for hurricane victims.
“A CLASS OF THEIR OWN”
“I have the joy of working with thousands of volunteers each year, including many corporate volunteers from the Middle Tennessee area, and LifePoint volunteers are in a class of their own,” Lisa Wager, our Volunteer Engagement Manager, said. “They are getting their hands dirty because they are committed to healthy and well-fed communities, not simply because they need a service project to complete.”
In recognition of their exceptional volunteer efforts, LifePoint was nominated for the 2018 Strobel Corporate Volunteerism Award, an award that pays tribute to businesses that have highly engaged and highly impactful employee volunteer programs.
Many businesses say they want to make a difference. LifePoint Health made it their mission. We’re thankful for their immense support and look forward to fighting hunger with them in the future!