UCO’s Leader’s of Tommorrow Volunteer at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

The University of Central Oklahoma student organization Leaders Of Tomorrow volunteered at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma on Nov. 20 from 1:30-4:00 P.M., packing 21,440 pounds of donated food for school-age children in need this holiday season. 

The process of packing the lunches was divided into different groups. In one area of the building, there were various pallets stacked with the goods that were going to be used in the lunch bags.

Some volunteers were tasked with opening these wrapped pallets and organizing the contents, while other volunteers took what was organized and put them into small blue totes to carry around the line tables, making sure that they were stocked for the prepping to actually begin.

The volunteers on the prepping line had the job of actually filling the bags with the canned foods, packaged snacks, drinks, and other goods provided. 

As the bags made their way down to the end of the table and were filled with the food items, they were then sealed by one volunteer and weighed by another volunteer, making sure that the bags were a standard weight.

Once the bags passed the weight test, they were placed into a Regional Food Bank cardboard box. Then, those boxes that contained several bagged lunches were placed on a conveyor belt that brought them to a pallet at the front of the room.

Once the pallet was full, an RFB worker took it off to their loading room, where it was placed directly onto an RFB delivery truck for shipping. At the end of the work day, a total of 6,432 bagged lunches were packed, making 1,072 boxes and a total of 17,867 meals donated, which was 21,440 pounds of food. 

Gracie Baldwin, the Service Chair for LOT, says that the organization was founded as a servant leadership on campus. Their goals are to provide service for UCO, Edmond, and Oklahoma as a whole. Baldwin says that it is important for them to get out into the community in any way possible, as they understand how much the community has given to them. 

“The [Regional Food Bank] kind of has a special tie because our Central Pantry at UCO is tied to the food bank, that’s where they get a lot of their food donations, so it’s a way for us to give back to the community, in which the community gives back to us, so it’s really special,” said Kaylie McClintock, the Senior Representative for LOT. 

LOT is looking for incoming, transfer, and continuing students who have the service leadership hearts, caring for their communities, and who have had involvement in those aspects, said Baldwin. 

To find out more about the Leaders of Tomorrow, visit https://ucore.uco.edu/lot/home/