URS donates $2K to Golden Harvest 11/16/2009 6:47 PM
By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
The URS Corporation has donated $2,000 to the Golden Harvest Food Bank, which will provide 200 turkeys to area families in need during the Thanksgiving season.
Dave Pethick, URS Energy & Environment president, said the company is committed to the community and residents who are struggling to keep food on the table.
"It is our goal to make a difference in the lives of others through our giving," he said in a press release. "We are fortunate to have Golden Harvest Food Bank available to reach out to needy families during this season and throughout the year."
Accepting the donation were Golden Harvest Associate Director Barry Forde and development officer Kay Benitez. Forde, a 25-year staffer with the Augusta-based organization, will become director of the Aiken facility Nov. 23. He will spend four days a week in Aiken and alternate the fifth day between Augusta and the community of Liberty, another distribution site.
Golden Harvest has seen a 15 percent increase in food distribution to 12.5 million pounds over the past year, Forde said.
"This kind of donation will make a difference," he told Pethick. "Your generosity will create another level of support for us. Almost all those getting turkeys live at or below the poverty level. We're seeing a lot of working families who were stretching their paychecks before. Now they don't have enough to stretch it. Some were formerly donors to the food bank, and that's a really sad thing.'
Forde joined Golden Harvest in 1984 and considers his work a calling. He's concerned that the need is even greater a quarter of a century later.
"There's a lot of work to be done," Forde said. "There is always a level of people who need assistance throughout the community, but it's cutting even deeper now. Some families are holding two jobs and even four jobs and still can't make ends meet."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title: Its nice to give!
Thats great to see people giving back this time of year, when there are sooo many in need! But there is also others giving back too! In case...the Family Life Worship Center will be giving away 200 turkeys also during their morning worship service on Nov. 22...11:00AM!!!
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