Food Bank Of The Rockies Gets Big Donation

DENVER (CBS4)- The Food Bank of the Rockies received a big boost on Thursday to help families who are struggling to make ends meet.

Bellco donated $100,000 to the food bank as part of a new partnership. To kick off the partnership, Bellco has been collecting non-perishable food items for Food Bank of the Rockies in its Front Range branch locations since Dec. 2011.

On Thursday, a team of Bellco volunteers worked to sort those items at the food bank's headquarters in Denver.

With some of the money, the food bank purchased two food dehydrators to preserve and distribute food that would otherwise be trashed.

The goal of the new partnership is to offer healthier options to people they serve.

"Food Bank of the Rockies is deeply grateful to Bellco for its generosity as well as its overall partnership," said Kevin Seggelke, president and CEO of Food Bank of the Rockies. "One in seven Coloradans struggle with hunger. The dehydration units will enable us to provide nutritious food options to our partner agencies that we have not been able to provide prior to this generous gift from Bellco. Our children's programs will benefit tremendously from these dehydration units. Dried fruits are expensive to purchase and will now be offered to more than 2,300 children per week as a healthy snack option."