An intense, two-hour effort by hundreds of volunteers resulted in thousands of meals for needy local families on Saturday. The Full Summer food packing project took place in the Godby High School cafeteria.
The countdown came at 10:00 Saturday morning. With that, hundreds of people began sealing non-perishable staples, like macaroni, rice and cereal into thousands of air-tight meal pouches. Leon County Commission Chair Jimbo Jackson was a first-time volunteer.
"It's being put on by Laurye Messer and her colleagues, along with so many volunteer groups from all over Tallahassee," he observed. "I've seen people from the South, North, East and West sides and it makes you realize that Tallahassee is a wonderful place to live!"
Mary Dekle with Second Harvest of the Big Bend said all the work was more than worth it.
"There are more than 20,000 children here in the Big Bend who could go hungry tonight and these meals make sure that their families have nutritious meals when sometimes there isn't anything in the pantry."
At the end of the two-hours, the final meal count was 65,220. That was on top of the more than three tons of canned goods donated in the run-up to Full Summer Saturday.
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