Oklahomans Help To Fight Food Hunger Before Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, Oklahomans are pitching in at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to help fight food insecurity.

Members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City are working today to help “take a bite out of hunger.”

“It’s important because we need to give back,” said Edie Roodman with the Oklahoma Israel Exchange. “In Judaism, we are commanded to do good in our communities, and this is a great example of just that.”

The federation is celebrating 10 years of giving back at the food bank.

“We have people of all ages and stages out here, because we all have a duty to make our world a better place,” the group’s executive director Roberta Clark said. 

Over the past decade, the federation has prepared more than 155,000 pounds of food, providing more than 130,000 meals.

“I think we all need to help out in as many ways and as often as we can, and sometimes people can help by writing a check, sometimes people can help by showing up and rolling up their sleeves and working,” Clark said.

According to the food bank, the holiday season causes a spike in people needing food assistance.

“That’s why people do it,” said Roodman. “They are doing something that matters in this community and touches the lives of children in particular, and there’s nothing more important than that.”

APMEX.com, Cresap Family Foundation and Chesapeake Energy will match donations, up to $600,000 through December 31.

“During the Holiday Match campaign, every dollar donated helps the Regional Food Bank to provide eight meals to those living with food insecurity in central and western Oklahoma,” according to the food banks website.

“I wish for the day when we don’t have to do it anymore and there aren’t one in four children hungry in our community,” said Roodman. “But, until that time, I think the Jewish community will be committed to doing this important work.”

Click here to donate to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Click here to volunteer.