WNY Community Comes Together to Spread Hope
In the spirit of giving, hundreds packed a Buffalo high school to fill boxes of food for the hungry Sunday morning.
Volunteers talked to YNN's Kate McGowan and explained why they felt the need to come out and help.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The need to give was what brought hundreds of people together Sunday.
"It's just really about doing it for others," said Clarence resident, Brandon DiBerardino. "It's bagging meals, it's the gift that keeps on giving, you know?"
With just about a week until Christmas, volunteers from across Western New York stuffed bags of food for Stop Hunger Now, an organization which helps both national and international efforts.
Most recently, the agency provided close to 200,000 meals in Hurricane Sandy relief.
"There are tables where people are assembling meals and then there are runners who take the assembled meals, where they are weighed," said Village Church pastor, Jeremy Hazelton.
"They are then heat-sealed by the volunteers and then boxed up and they go onto the truck," said a member of Stop Hunger Now.
Each bag is filled with rice, soy, and vegetables. It's what organizers said are the essentials for a healthy meal. Enough of them were filled to feed 30,000 families.
A young volunteer exclaimed, "I just do it because I have nothing else to do. So what better thing to do than help someone who's unfortunate?"
Talk about the spirit of giving. These volunteers said in light of the tragedy that happened in our nation this week, they explained that it's important to give back to the community and spread some hope.
"I think people are looking for opportunities to be together. Look for the bright spot in what other wise could feel like a dark place to be," said Hazelton.
Andrew Sullivan said, "Kind of come together and do something good. Not to forget about what happened but heal a little bit."
And for every 3,000 food bags created, volunteers celebrated. A celebration of giving and a mean for these people to open their hearts and pass along their generosity.
"No matter how ugly things get or how tough times get, the will to do good and to help others will always come on top," expressed DiBerardino.