Our June Feds Feed Families totals are in, and I would like to give my USDA colleagues across the country a discreet, virtual high-five.
Today, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA donated just over 100,000 pounds of food to the Feds Feed Families food drive during the month of June. What a great start to the campaign! The National Office Feds Feed Families team continues to be inspired by the stories we are hearing from our counterparts in the field.
Take, for example, Nevada Rural Development State Director Sarah Adler whose generous donation landed her into the OPM Feds Feed Families Hall of Fame. With a motto of “go big or go home”, she and her children donated 250.2 pounds of food to the Nevada food drive.
In South Dakota, another Hall-of-Famer Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Craig Schaunaman netted a total of 279 pounds of food to donate to a local food pantry.
And over in West Virginia, Rural Development State Director Bobby Lewis, NRCS State Conservationist Kevin Wickey, and Farm Service Agency State Executive Director John Pettit have agreed to match, pound per pound, their employee’s contributions.
So USDA has started strong out of the gate, collecting and donating over 100,000 pounds during the month of June. Now the question is whether or not we can keep up the momentum to meet our goal of donating 500,000 pounds of healthy food – one-quarter of the OPM Federal goal of 2 million pounds of food. Can we do it?
Having witnessed the drive and the generosity of those within the USDA family, I think the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes.” If anyone can meet, or hopefully exceed, that hefty goal, the nationwide network of USDA employees can. We are the “People’s Department”, after all.
Let’s go, Team USDA!