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MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman, where today we get to talk to volunteer coordinator Blake Joel about all the volunteers here at Feeding Northeast Florida. Blake, thanks for talking to me.
BLAKE JOEL: Yeah, thanks for coming back and we’re happy to have you.
PITTMAN: All right, I want to learn all about the volunteer system.
JOEL: Definitely. So, we see about 11,000 volunteers a year. That’s equivalent to 16 full-time staff members. So as you can imagine, we really cannot do what needs to be done without our volunteers.
PITTMAN: It is a big job. So, let’s talk about that job. What kind of stuff are they doing every single day here at Feeding northeast Florida?

JOEL: So, the volunteers are definitely the heartbeat of our organization. Every day our volunteers come in, and we never know what they’re going to get into. Some days it’s helping sort through our shelf stable items, some days we’ve got frozen items we need to get out. And then other days we have produce from local farmers, and we need that sorted out as well.
PITTMAN: What is the criteria to become a volunteer here at Feeding Northeast Florida?
JOEL: We just want our volunteers to be over the age of 14. Other than that, we just want people that want to come and help make a big difference in the community.
PITTMAN: Alright, people watching right now who want to get more details… where can they go?

JOEL: Yeah. Check us out online. Our website is FeedingNEFL.org/volunteer.

PITTMAN: Easy enough. Get out there, find out some details about this volunteer system. And if you would like to get involved, again go to FeedingNEFL.org

Feeding Northeast Florida Director of Compliance and Capability Eli Darkatsh presents a comprehensive guide to preparing for emergencies and natural disasters such as hurricanes. The information in this video can benefit our community partners and agencies before, during and after hurricane season.