Rotarians can peaches to support FISH

Posted by Joseph R. Mazzola 
on Oct 26, 2011
 

Early on a warm September Monday morning, four members of the Broomfield Evening Rotary Club joined a volunteer group of men and women from Broomfield’s F.I.S.H. human services to travel to the Latter-Day Saints Cannery in Aurora, Colorado. Here, Broomfield workers were partnered with four other humanitarian aid groups from as far away as Colorado Springs and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Fifty to sixty men and women arrived ready to go to work preparing and canning food for people in need in their communities.

 

The goal for the day was to can 12,000 pounds of raw California peaches. The volunteer group was split into work groups: washing the peaches, skinning and pitting, inspecting for usability, and then combining the peaches with sugar water. The canned peaches moved along the assembly line to the cooking pods, where canned peaches were cooked in water at extreme high temperatures for 40 minutes. After cooling, the cans moved along to those applying labels and packing boxes of the finished product. 

 

Volunteers canned, labeled and packed approximately 5,040 large cans of peaches. These cans were packed in 480 cases, 12 cans per case, and made ready for pick-up by the four food banks represented that Monday. The next day, Broomfield F.I.S.H. food bank picked up 105 cases, 1260 cans of peaches, to distribute to its Broomfield clients.

 

For forty weeks each year, LDS Aurora cannery is available to volunteers of food banks along the Front Range. This helps reduce any excess food stock at the cannery location and allows food banks to use this excess food stock to benefit those who depend on food banks to supply their families with healthy diets.  Throughout communities in Wyoming and Colorado, the needy benefit from wise use of abundant foodstuff that might otherwise be discarded.

 

Conversation amongst the volunteers while working was limited, with each volunteer on an assignment that was taken seriously to avoid any stoppage of the canning assembly line. During breaks, workers exchanged names and information about their communities.  This was a day volunteers will remember;  6 hours of hard work  preparing and preserving food with the goal of  serving others in their respective communities...echoing the Rotary motto emphasizing commitment to service, “Service above Self”

 

The Broomfield Evening Rotary Club will continue helping Broomfield F.I.S.H. on future canning dates.