‘Operation Orange’ at Urbana food bank back for another year

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — It's another year of the Eastern Illinois Food Bank "Operation Orange" in Urbana.

More than 200 volunteers showed up today to repack meals like potatoes, beans and other food items. It's for families in the community who face food insecurity. Operation Orange started back in 2015.

Champaign Co. organizations aid low-income families

One organizer says the help they've been getting all these years goes a long way.

"It's important for us to have the volunteers who come into our facility to help us to repackage the food, because a lot of this food is perishable. So, we have potatoes and apples that we're doing today," Vice President of Development Amanda Borden said. "And without the helping hands of our community to come in and help us get that food repackaged, that food would go bad before we could get it out into the communities, into the hands of the people who need it."

Last year they hit a mark of repacking 67,000 meals. The volunteers this year are looking to beat those numbers.