Volunteers combine forces for food pack donations

Brian Arola, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
Updated ·2 min read

Aug. 18—Each ring of a gong by volunteers Friday signaled another full box of packed meals was ready for donation in Mankato.

The gongs added up to 25,000 individual meals prepared by a legion of volunteer packers from area businesses.

Observing the volunteers' efficient pace about halfway through, organizer Lauren Siefer of the Harvest Pack nonprofit said it was evident that much of the group worked in the manufacturing sector.

Volunteers lined up along tables to scoop ingredients, weigh them, bag them and pack them in boxes. They then stacked the sealed boxes on a pallet and rang the gong on their way back to the line.

Harvest Pack connected with Adam Canaday, human resources business partner at V-TEK, a local electronics manufacturer, for the volunteer event. Canaday reached out to several similar-sized businesses to collaborate on it, figuring they could pack more boxes by banding together.

Several more businesses joined V-TEK in the effort either through volunteering or donations, including AmeriStar Manufacturing, EI Microcircuits, Kato Moving & Storage, and Affordable Towing. Most of them are located close to V-TEK on Summit Avenue, making the event something like a volunteering block party.

V-TEK has about 35 people working at its Summit Avenue location on any given day, Canaday said. Partnering with more businesses brought the volunteer total to about 70.

"We're on a really good pace," he said about a half hour in. "It feels really good."

Along with the gong, the group received progress updates from Siefer as they neared the homestretch around 10 a.m. The meals, fortified cinnamon oatmeal, would go to ECHO Food Shelf once finished, Siefer said.

Keeping the meals local was big for V-TEK and its partners, Canaday said.

"To be able to do something as big and as impactful as this with as many people and still have it stay in Mankato, it's right up our alley," he said.

Emily Gerardy, administrative assistant at EI Microcircuits, also was happy to know the meals would go to Mankato area residents. The company manufactures circuit boards.

"Twenty-five thousand meals is a lot of meals to pack in a couple hours," Gerardy said. "It feels good to get together and support each other."

Harvest Pack is based in St. Paul but organizes volunteer packs around the country. Compared to the cinnamon and oat ingredients in the meals, volunteers and donations are the necessary ingredients for a packing event.

For more information on Harvest Pack, go to www.harvestpack.org.

Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola

Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola