Food for Thought Denver
Colorado, where 1 in 4 families do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, is the third fastest growing state for childhood hunger. Each day, a quarter of a million kids struggle with hunger in the state. Food For Thought Denver (FFT), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has stepped up to address this growing problem in Colorado. FFT’s mission statement is to “strive to eliminate weekend hunger for children in the Denver area by providing food PowerSacks, because we believe that no child should go hungry”.
FFT and Denver schools are seeing children coming to school on Monday mornings hungry, complaining of stomachaches and headaches, and unable to focus on their education because the last meal they ate was the free or reduced lunch they received at school the previous Friday. FFT is addressing this issue by providing PowerSacks, a bag filled with 9-13 food items, enough to feed a family of four for 2 meals, to every student at the 37 schools they serve. Each week FFT serves over 3,000 children and their families. To date, FFT has delivered more than 305,000 PowerSacks to children in need.
Each Friday morning starting at 6:00am, groups of volunteers gather to load and deliver the PowerSacks put together the previous week. At 7:00am, an even larger group of volunteers gathers to start stacking supplies for assembly. An assembly line is formed where all the PowerSacks are assembled and loaded into tubs to be delivered the next week.
Alex, an Atomic employee working remotely in Denver, had the opportunity to volunteer with FFT a handful of times, helping assemble PowerSacks. He was blown away by kindness and energy of the volunteers that take time off work early Friday morning to make a real difference in their community. Work is done outside under an overpass near the MSU Denver campus, year-round, rain, snow or shine.
Although Atomic Data is headquartered in Minneapolis, we encourage all our employees, no matter where they call home, to seek out opportunities to volunteer in their community. Since FFT is 100% volunteer run, without each person taking the time to come together each Friday towards a common goal, this amazing organization would not be possible. Food For Thought is making huge impacts in the lives of families in need in Colorado, and Atomic is happy to be a small part of making that happen.
If you’d like to support Food For Thought Denver, you may donate online by clicking here.