WEBVTT 00:00.370 --> 00:01.490 - My name's Barbara Hoffstetter. 00:01.490 --> 00:03.610 I'm the Human Resources Director here at the Toledo, 00:03.610 --> 00:05.823 Northwestern Ohio Food Bank in Toledo, Ohio. 00:06.760 --> 00:09.040 We have about 220 member agencies 00:09.040 --> 00:10.430 that utilize us through the year. 00:10.430 --> 00:13.240 That are either providing meals or other services 00:13.240 --> 00:14.880 to individuals in need. 00:14.880 --> 00:18.310 This Covid crisis has impacted our operations, greatly. 00:18.310 --> 00:19.890 We were finding a much greater 00:19.890 --> 00:22.120 need out there in our community. 00:22.120 --> 00:25.262 More people are coming to our pantries for food items. 00:25.262 --> 00:28.080 Since the National Guard has been here 00:28.080 --> 00:30.290 to help us with our increased demand, 00:30.290 --> 00:33.710 they have been a critical part of meeting that demand. 00:33.710 --> 00:35.460 What would take us about a week to accomplish, 00:35.460 --> 00:36.670 they do it in one or two days. 00:36.670 --> 00:40.890 So having this force here to sort stock 00:40.890 --> 00:43.590 and get everything available to our member agencies 00:43.590 --> 00:45.410 has been valuable to us. 00:45.410 --> 00:47.470 We really didn't know what to expect. 00:47.470 --> 00:49.650 We knew that a group of people were gonna come in 00:49.650 --> 00:52.510 and help us with our needs here. 00:52.510 --> 00:55.280 We did not expect to have the organization 00:55.280 --> 00:58.450 and the standards that they did bring with them. 00:58.450 --> 00:59.530 - So how it works every morning, 00:59.530 --> 01:02.820 we show up and we break up into three different teams. 01:02.820 --> 01:05.180 My team's in charge of sorting. 01:05.180 --> 01:08.510 So we do, we get out produce, our dairy and our grains. 01:08.510 --> 01:10.040 And we already did all that this morning. 01:10.040 --> 01:13.230 And we filled up about seven different crate loads. 01:13.230 --> 01:15.380 We go through, we separate what is good, 01:15.380 --> 01:18.420 what is old, what is moldy, rotten and then we break 'em 01:18.420 --> 01:20.070 into individual categories. 01:20.070 --> 01:22.570 And then the meats will be broken to what's frozen 01:22.570 --> 01:24.330 and what's fish and so on. 01:24.330 --> 01:27.330 So once we finish that task we start this task of the day. 01:27.330 --> 01:29.430 Which is their unseparated rooms. 01:29.430 --> 01:31.010 So this gets filled up everyday. 01:31.010 --> 01:33.410 And we keep going task by task to get it done. 01:33.410 --> 01:35.130 We'll take out a pallet. 01:35.130 --> 01:36.440 We'll drag it out here. 01:36.440 --> 01:38.470 And we will start separating the items between 01:38.470 --> 01:41.830 what is for pantry and then what is for miscellaneous. 01:41.830 --> 01:44.960 From there, we'll stack these six high. 01:44.960 --> 01:47.630 And they will take 'em and get ready to get shipped out 01:47.630 --> 01:50.260 to 200 different locations all around the state 01:50.260 --> 01:52.380 where they're broken down. 01:52.380 --> 01:56.230 - National Guard are soldiers that are in the community 01:56.230 --> 01:59.480 that are here to do exactly what we're doing. 01:59.480 --> 02:03.030 To step in where there are shortages. 02:03.030 --> 02:05.400 You know, if it's natural disaster 02:05.400 --> 02:08.240 or a virus going around the nation. 02:08.240 --> 02:09.470 It doesn't matter what it is. 02:09.470 --> 02:10.610 This is what we signed up for. 02:10.610 --> 02:12.610 This is what we swore an oath to. 02:12.610 --> 02:14.870 At the end of the day, we're here for our communities. 02:14.870 --> 02:17.310 Half the soldiers here in this food bank, 02:17.310 --> 02:20.860 in the last week and a half are from the Toledo area. 02:20.860 --> 02:23.440 So it's a lot more personal to them, 02:23.440 --> 02:25.760 that they're here helping out their community. 02:25.760 --> 02:29.350 The National Guard is very flexible in what we do 02:29.350 --> 02:30.470 and we're very proud of that. 02:30.470 --> 02:34.030 And we feel like we can fill any tasks. 02:34.030 --> 02:37.330 We can provide any asset to the civilian world, 02:37.330 --> 02:40.470 be it logistics or medical or anything. 02:40.470 --> 02:42.600 That we're confident that we will, 02:42.600 --> 02:44.110 you know, complete the mission. 02:44.110 --> 02:45.730 - So a National Guard consists of so many 02:45.730 --> 02:46.690 different types of people. 02:46.690 --> 02:47.643 You have students. 02:47.643 --> 02:50.480 So full time doctors who work for the National Guard. 02:50.480 --> 02:52.350 So lawyers, engineers and everything. 02:52.350 --> 02:53.950 Myself, currently, I'm a student. 02:53.950 --> 02:55.450 Work for the Cleveland Clinic and hopefully, 02:55.450 --> 02:57.770 one day become a doctor for the Army. 02:57.770 --> 02:59.410 Right here, you have Sargent Davis, 02:59.410 --> 03:02.130 who is going to school to become a nurse practitioner. 03:02.130 --> 03:05.812 While you have Specialist Tolls over here who's an engineer 03:05.812 --> 03:06.645 currently for Jeeves. 03:06.645 --> 03:08.420 So you've got such a wide variety of careers. 03:08.420 --> 03:09.980 That it's your neighbor next door, 03:09.980 --> 03:11.750 It's your friend down the street. 03:11.750 --> 03:12.830 The gentleman that holds the door opened 03:12.830 --> 03:13.700 for the gas station. 03:13.700 --> 03:15.260 The National Guard is filled with so many different 03:15.260 --> 03:17.420 individuals who serve their community 03:17.420 --> 03:18.983 and serve the military. 03:20.120 --> 03:22.460 - Having the National Guard at the food bank 03:22.460 --> 03:25.350 I think has really given our staff 03:25.350 --> 03:28.340 a more developed sense of community. 03:28.340 --> 03:31.650 And just how many people are out there willing to help 03:31.650 --> 03:33.760 and how much support it really does take 03:33.760 --> 03:36.290 from our community to make this all happen. 03:36.290 --> 03:38.710 We have about a staff of 18 here. 03:38.710 --> 03:39.543 They give their all. 03:39.543 --> 03:42.560 They're very passionate about our mission of ending hunger. 03:42.560 --> 03:44.930 And to see the soldiers for the National Guard 03:44.930 --> 03:47.150 come in and share that passion with us, 03:47.150 --> 03:51.350 and want to be there to help us through this crisis, 03:51.350 --> 03:54.510 just further gives us hope that everything's gonna be okay. 03:54.510 --> 03:56.939 And we're gonna do our best to make it through this. 03:56.939 --> 03:59.356 (soft music)