Oracle employees are no strangers to the Food Bank. Since 2007, 1,174 Oracle volunteers have donated 4,156 hours to help feed families in need in our warehouse, kitchen, garden and mobile pantries. Even with the pandemic and changes to our volunteer model, Oracle volunteers are still fighting hunger.
Despite our much smaller volunteers shifts and the challenge in finding open shifts, Oracle employees have still managed to secure volunteer spots to help us feed families in need during the pandemic.
While our staff is very familiar with the red Oracle shirts that come through our facility year after year, Oracle’s generosity goes beyond their volunteerism.
Last year, we received a $35,000 grant from Oracle to support our neighbors in need. This year, their generosity is even more remarkable.
A few months ago, the tech company awarded the Food Bank a $40,000 grant to support families facing hunger across our 21-county service territory. Their incredible support helps provide 160,000 meals for our community. Thank you, Oracle!
The grant comes at a time when even more Central Texans are seeking food assistance. Prior to the pandemic, the Food Bank served nearly 50,000 individuals each week. But with so many of our neighbors facing difficult times, we are now helping more than 85,000 individuals each week.
The need is unprecedented. We have had a 220 percent increase in families turning to the Food Bank for the first time. While we’re serving the dramatic need, the pandemic has also caused disruptions to our supply chain and reduced food donations from grocery stores—forcing us to purchase more food.
Thanks to Oracle, we’ll be able to provide fresh produce to community members of all ages through our network of more than 260 pantry partners and seven programs, including the Mobile Food Pantry, Fresh Food for Families and Healthy Options Program for the Elderly (HOPE).
Additionally, the grant helps support our transportation and food distribution in our service territory. Last month, we broke record by distributing 6,971,324 pounds of food—the most in Central Texas Food Bank history. Of that, 1,928,339 pounds was produce.
With help from community supporters like Oracle, we’ve distributed 51,651,382 pounds of food to date this fiscal year, exceeding our goal for the year, which was 51,500,000.
We are so thankful for the unbelievable support from Oracle, but especially during these trying times.Thank you, Oracle, for standing by our side to help feed our most vulnerable neighbors and families who never imagined they would need a helping hand.
