- April 28, 2024
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HUM volunteers and Ocean Center staff load food bags into a van for distribution. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
HUM Executive Director Buck James and Executive Board Treasurer Jerry Cutter. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Volunteers pack produce for HUM's COVID Response Feed-A-Family program. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Halifax Urban Ministries is packing almost 3,000 bags every Tuesday at the Ocean Center. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
HUM volunteer Ted Hordecky helps load food bags into a van at the Ocean Center. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Each Tuesday, volunteers with Halifax Urban Ministries arrive to the Ocean Center's exhibition hall to help pack almost 3,000 bags of food for struggling families.
It's an operation that has been in place since May, and after this week's COVID Response Feed-A-Family session, HUM will have distributed over 50,000 bags of food throughout Volusia County, a milestone HUM Executive Director Buck James said they never thought they would accomplish.
"In retrospect, it’s really awe-inspiring to see what happens when everybody from the community comes together and works together," James said.
With 48 distribution points in the county, HUM's objective is to centralize efforts to feed Volusia families. Every bag is the same — they contain items such as fresh produce, a loaf of bread, pasta, cereal and pre-packaged meats. HUM receives two weekly semi-trucks full of food at the Ocean Center.
James said they are averaging about 82 volunteers a week, many from the surrounding faith community. Without the volunteers, the operation could not be complete, he said.
James recalls going home the night before the first food bag distribution, taking one last look at the boxes of food in the Ocean Center's arena, and how he woke up in the middle of the night hoping volunteers would show up in the morning to help.
“Every week, people showed up to volunteer," James said.
Ted Hordecky, member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, is one of those volunteers. Their work is rewarding, he said. Like him, several of the volunteers are retired and put in up to 12 hours a day for the operation.
“A lot of hands makes a light load," Hordecky said.
The work to bring the food bags into the hands of families goes beyond packing and distribution. Ormond Beach resident Jerry Cutter serves as treasurer on HUM's executive board, and said their role in bringing the operation together is administrative in nature.
“It’s quite an accomplishment from the time we sit down in the director’s meetings and we see this all come together because we work behind the scenes all the time, raising the money, buying the food," Cutter said.
Since May, HUM has moved its packing sessions from the arena to the ballroom until finally migrating to the exhibition hall, where six columns of 240 bags can be set up at once, minimizing the amounts of packing rounds volunteers need to complete. Once each round is finished, the food bags are loaded into vans inside the hall.
“This is something that can really make a difference in their lives," James said. "It’s really exciting to see what people can do when they come together to meet a need.”
