DOE employees boost donations to local food bank

U.S. Department of Energy employees donate 13,872 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. (Photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

U.S. Department of Energy employees donated 13,872 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. The donation was part of the national Feds Feed Families campaign.

This is the fourth year the DOE’s Oak Ridge site has participated in the annual summer campaign, which helps replenish local food banks and raises awareness about the prevalence of hunger nationally. The campaign continues to garner high participation and serve as a cornerstone charitable event for local federal employees, who have tallied more than 11,000 pounds in donations every year. In addition, the program continues to be a success, as this year’s donation total reached an all-time high.

Federal employees from the Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office, Oak Ridge Office of Nuclear Energy, and Office of Inspector General gave all food donations to the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, which provides food, services, and education to an 18-county area. Donations to Second Harvest support the nonprofit organization’s mission to provide nutritional needs for all people at risk of hunger.

Since the program began in 2009, the Feds Feed Families campaign has collected more than 15.2 million pounds of food and non-perishable items nationally. More information about the initiative is available at www.fedsfeedfamilies.gov.