We had an  absolute blast working with Food LifeLine!!

We participated in the “grocery rescue” group where volunteers are tasked with sorting and verifying expiration dates on food donated from local grocery stores. Stores like Albertson’s, QFC and Whole Foods tag their dairy, produce, bakery and prepared foods with “sell by” dates that don’t always match up with actual expiration dates. But, beyond that sell by date, stores will pull these items from their shelves and actually throw them out with the trash.

Kathy and Kat were in charge of dairy.

Food LifeLine “rescues” these food items for distribution to food banks and shelters throughout Western WA. It’s an amazing program that services over 686,000 people and we were happy to lend a hand.

Parker’s volunteers repacked 7,025 lbs. of grocery rescue in 4 hours providing 5,404 meals!

To put that in perspective, our coordinator said that a typical team of 9-10 processes 2000-3000 lbs. in 4 hours! We were a grocery rescuing machine!

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities with Food LifeLine, please visit http://foodlifeline.org/help/volunteer/Volunteer.html to learn more about ways you can help!

One of the best things about working for a company like Parker is the unique benefits we’re offered, like our Quarterly Community Service Benefit. This provides us with 8 hours of paid time each quarter to volunteer with the organizations of our choice.

We enjoyed our group volunteer event last quarter so much that we decided to continue the tradition this December – but double the number of Parker volunteers to 10!

Next Tuesday, December 7th will find us partnering with The Global Citizen Project to help out at Food LifeLine of Western Washington. We’re really excited! Food Lifeline is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in Western Washington. They make every penny count, and 94% of the food they receive from local, state and national contributors is donated.

Look for a wrap-up and pictures next week!