Feds fight hunger in local community

By Sgt. Lance PoundsJuly 23, 2014

Feds fight hunger in local community
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lead military pay techs Latoya Wattley, Brenda Ware, and military pay tech Marcy Brown from the Defense Military Pay office on post, unload a van full of food and non-perishable items collected from their offices in support of the sixth annual Feds F... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Feds fight hunger in local community
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lead military pay tech Latoya Wattley and military pay tech Leslie Ingram from the Defense Military Pay office on post, stack their donated items onto categorized pallets in support of the sixth annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive campaign, July 18 ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Feds fight hunger in local community
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lead military pay tech Latoya Wattley from the Defense Military Pay office on post, places items donated in support of the sixth annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive campaign on a scale at the Army Community Services office in the Rivers building her... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas - Defense Department employees post wide donate food and other non-perishable items in support of the sixth annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive campaign July 18 at the Army Community Services office located inside the Rivers building here.

"Each week we target a different food category to help motivate others to donate," said Leslie Ingram, a military pay tech at the Defense Military Pay office on post, whose competitive strategy proved effective as her team donated more than 560 pounds in one week.

All collected donations are weighed at the time of drop off. The weight is then recorded and sent to the DOD Feds Feed Families reporting team for nationwide totaling.

Most of the donations collected during the campaign will be sent to the Capital Area Food Bank, which serves more than 700 food pantries, soup kitchens and other service organizations in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland.

Donations collected here will in turn be distributed food pantries in the local area.

"I challenge my friends and family to help me give back to our own [local food pantries]," said Ingram. She also stated that her personal goal is to donate her own body weight in non-perishable items before the end of the campaign.

Special recognition in the DOD Feds Feed Families Hall of Fame is given to those who, individually or as a team, make large contributions. Recognition begins at contributions of 250 pounds for Hall of Fame status, 500 pounds for Gold level status, and 1,000 pounds or more for Platinum level status.

According to the DOD, no government-wide collection goal has been released but every donation, big or small, will be significant in the lives of those families in need.

To date, federal employees have donated more than 24 million pounds of food and other non-perishable items in support of families all across America.