Volunteers Make Over 100,000 Meals for Bucks County Residents

The United Way of Bucks County and hundreds of volunteers worked to knock out hunger in Bucks County Friday.

The nonprofit hosted Bucks Knocks Out Hunger Friday at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown and put together just over 100,000 meals for the needy. Volunteers from around the county came out to help at two 90-minute food packing shifts. The volunteer work came after weeks of fundraising.

“Bucks County responded to BKO Hunger with generosity and enthusiasm. The response demonstrated that food insecurity was an issue that matters to many here locally, and that BKO Hunger was an approach they could get behind.” Tim Philpot, project coordinator, said in a statement.

The volunteers manned assembly lines and put together packets of dried meals featuring rice and beans and macaroni and cheese.

From the United Way of Bucks County:

The event encompassed over 600 volunteers, including meal packers, table assistants (who taught the meal packing process), the #BKOHunger Twitter corps, photographers and even a DJ.

“There was a lot of positive energy in the room,” said volunteer Kathryn Stankiewicz, “It was a feeling of instant gratification to know that the meals were going right to the pantries and feeding people as soon as tonight.”

There was so much support from across the county for the event. First Federal of Bucks County was the premium sponsor for Bucks Knocks Out Hunger 2014, donating $10,000. Other “Super Heavyweight” sponsors included Cummins, GE Water, PECO, National Penn, Lockheed Martin, Sesame Place, and Catherine McElroy of Bucks County Women’s Initiative. Jennifer Dredge of Cummins also raised $2,200 for the event through her friends and family and brought a table full of volunteers with her.

United Way of Bucks County is still accepting donations to Bucks Knocks Out Hunger. All funds go to provide the 100,200 meals, as well as 30,000 pounds of produce from local farms, to Bucks County food pantries.