[dropcap]M[/dropcap]usic was in the air as the 50-plus Night Hawk Frozen Foods employees danced and cheered along the assembly line during the Hays County Food Bank’s holiday meal box “Boxing Day”.
Hays County Food Bank (HCFB) has been hosting the Turkeys Tackling Hunger holiday meal box program for 11 years and started out hosting Boxing Day at its headquarters in San Marcos.
Mallory Best, the Communications Coordinator at HCFB, said that, in an effort to make the program more efficient, the HCFB team has restructured the registration and food buying process to meet the needs of people in the 21st century.
“We’re trying to do everything more efficiently to cut down on waste and crank out 2,000 boxes,” Best said.
Best said the Boxing Day event was originally hosted at the food bank’s headquarters before moving to the H-E-B in San Marcos. Boxing Day finally ended up at Night Hawk in Buda in 2015.
Leeann Logan, owner of Night Hawk Frozen Foods in Buda, said that the company has been a sponsor of the program for four years and a title sponsor for three years.
“They do so much,” Best said of the Night Hawk team.
As part of the partnership, Night Hawk closes down production at its factory for a whole day to pack the holiday meal boxes.
“It’s important to us and it’s what we’re all about, giving back to the community,” Logan said.
Night Hawk employees who helped out during Boxing Day said they look forward to the event each year.
It gives them an opportunity to give back to people in need during the holidays while having fun doing it.
“There’s a lot of people that need help so we’re just going with the flow and paying it forward,” one Night Hawk employee said.
However, Best said the number of holiday meal boxes has been tapered down from previous years.
One of the main factors is an online registration process that asks qualifying questions for applicants before they’re approved.
As a result of the registration process, enough food is collected or purchased to accommodate for the specific number of boxes.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Donations for the Turkeys Tackling Hunger event can be accepted until Giving Tuesday on Nov. 28 and they welcome donations of any amount, even $5.
The registration system prevents a surplus of boxes, which had been a problem in the past, Best said.
There are 2,000 families who registered for a holiday meal box and they will be distributed at the various HCFB distribution locations.
Best added HCFB would take 15 to 20 volunteers to the distribution locations, where the holiday meal boxes will be distributed to registered families via a ticket system.
Best said the value of each holiday meal box is around $30. Donations for the Turkeys Tackling Hunger event can be accepted until Giving Tuesday on Nov. 28 and they welcome donations of any amount, even $5.
But the food bank still needs help in collecting enough to provide all the boxes needed.
Best said the HCFB only collected about 30 percent of the donations needed to fund all 2,000 holiday meal boxes.
She encouraged Hays County residents to donate before the deadline in order for the program to continue in the future.
“The community is feeding all these people (holiday meal box recipients),” said Ashley Hurst said, the new Development and Special Events Manager at Hays County Food Bank.
Hurst said that Night Hawk donates the employees and the equipment needed to pack the holiday meal boxes, Little Guys Movers donates their trucks and employees to help deliver and unload the meal boxes on pallets to the various distribution sites.
“This program is so awesome too because everyone comes together to help, including the over 50 partner agencies who help us identify people and families in need,” Hurst said.
