Undamaged Food Spilled After Crash Donated To OK Food Bank

Good things can come from unexpected places. The latest example is the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

It recently got a huge donation of free food from a surprising source. The food bank said it received two semi-truckloads full of free food. It's a happy ending to a story that started with a crime.

Greg Raskin with the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma said, "It's not every day that we get a unique load of food like this."

"We have lotus root - frankly, I don't think we've moved any of that yet. There's pickled ginger, though, which is really good and really expensive. So, as you talk to people about it, a little hesitant about it, but then they're like, ‘OK, we'll try it,’" said director Eileen Bradshaw.

Where did the food all come from; a semi crash on December 23rd, just after midnight.

Police said the driver of a semi-truck crashed on the Claremore exit of the Will Rogers Turnpike, spilling some of the produce inside.

When another driver pulled over and tried to help him, officers said 45-year-old Anthony Watkins of Texas knocked over the Good Samaritan, took his keys, and stole his truck.

12/23/2015 Related Story: Semi Driver Arrested After Crash, Chase Up The Will Rogers Turnpike

Watkins led police on a chase, but they eventually stopped him with stop sticks. They said Watkins was driving under the influence of several drugs and arrested him.

But, then came the question of what to do with all of the food that wasn't damaged - fresh produce in Watkins' truck, and Thai food products in the other truck.

The insurance companies settled and decided to donate it.

Bradshaw said, "A lot of it's already, it's not only in programs, it's been eaten, it's gone to tables, it's gone. So it's gone to the right place."

The Food Bank said 58,000 pounds of food from that incident were donated - enough to feed more than 47,000 people.