Jim White Food Bank of the Rockies Side

Guest Blog by Caroline Fregeau

After learning about Jim’s project with arc, I wanted to know more about what happens with these books after they get to Food Bank of the Rockies. I followed Jim, and his project partner Reagan Giffels, to the Food Bank of the Rockies.

The Food Bank of the Rockies is one of the biggest centers providing food to people across Colorado. Every week they send out their “Totes of Hope” to schools and locations that are in need of providing people with food for the weekend. They send about 5,000 backpacks a week to rural areas in need.

Jim has brought so many books to the Food Bank that they have supplied locations with enough books to no longer need a weekly demand, and Food Bank of the Rockies has started sending out books only once a month with the totes.

 The totes come to the Food Bank in boxes provided by Jim, where they are then more properly packed into sealed boxes with the help of Cherry Creek Transitions. The boxes average about 50 books for each box, and for every 50 totes, one box is added to the delivery. Then once the books finally reach their destination, with totes alongside them, the sites package up the books and food to go home with students.

Below is an example of a month’s worth of books delivered to the Food Bank of the Rockies. You can see some of the more chaotically packaged books, to the properly sealed and organized boxes in the top right corner.