Greater Boston Food Bank
Deutsche Bank Championship
By: Kristy McLachlin

The Greater Boston Food Bank feeds more than 321,500 people annually in eastern Massachusetts, serving 190 communities in nine counties. The network of community agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, transitional shelters, long-term residences, rehabilitation centers, treatment centers, after-school programs, youth centers and senior centers.

Founded in 1981, the Food Bank employs nearly 60 people, and benefits from the services of 14,500 volunteers annually who contribute over almost 50,000 hours to acquire, inspect, sort, warehouse, and distribute enormous quantities of food and grocery products. During the Deutsche Bank Championship, PTWA members returned to the Greater Boston Food Bank and our members joined volunteers from State Street and Deutsche Bank to see who could sort the most food in the time allotted. The winning team sorted enough food to feed over 7000 families! 

The Greater Boston Food Bank distributes more than 30 million pounds of food annually to a network of more than 600 member hunger-relief agencies. It will be moving to a 110,000 square foot distribution center in the winter that will double its food distribution abilities. Food is acquired through food industry product donations, corporate and group food drives, individual food donations and financial contributions that enable the Food Bank to buy even more food. They also receive surplus food from retailers, restaurants, caterers, hotels, corporate cafeterias and universities through Second Helping, a perishable foods donation program. The Food Bank actually helps retailers solve a major business and environmental problem  by accepting large quantities of good food that might have been overproduced, incorrectly labeled or packaged, or that is simply not selling well. The Food Bank is proud that 89 percent of all dollars secured goes to anti-hunger efforts. And it is estimated that for every dollar secured, the Food Bank distributes more than $5.00 worth of donated food.

This is the fifth straight year that  PTWA members have enjoyed partnering with State Street and Deutsche Bank in working at the Food Bank, and this project is one of the highlights on our volunteer calendar. If you would like more information on this incredible organization, or are interested in making a donation, please visit www.gbfb.org.