Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

A wonderful organization doing invaluable work in the OKC community. Their facility is top-notch. I got the opportunity to volunteer there recently and I'm so glad I did. I learned so much about the great work they are doing for individuals, children and families who are experiencing hardship in accessing food.A bit of background: They are the state's largest private hunger-relief organization. They provide enough food to feed more than 116,000 hungry Oklahoman's each week through a network of schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties.During a recent volunteer experience I got to see first hand what others in the OKC community have been raving about. This is the most well organized (and fun!!) volunteer experiences I've ever had. The volunteer leadership team does a great job at providing an bit of educational background about the organization and overview of what's in store for our time with them over the course of the next two hours. The team did a great job at supporting and directing us during our session. Learn more about volunteering at the RFBO on their website. I hope to return as volunteer at The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma soon!

I came here with my friends group not really expecting much. I have grown up volunteering and love volunteering (I know, weirdo) so I have been in quite a few establishments. This was the most organized, clean, never slow, not a waste of my time feeling, and friendly volunteering I have ever participated in for an establishment like this. Usually it feels disorganized or like you should be doing more, but these people really have it down to a science on how to best utilize their volunteers. Now we organized food products into boxes according to weight so I don't know how other volunteering opportunities go there, but I am assuming everything is clockwork at RFB after my last experience. If you are looking for mindless volunteering where you move a lot, dance to music, love meeting new people or want to hang/work with friends, and want to find out instantly how many families your hard work will bring food too. Go here. Plus there staff is really friendly and helpful. Bonus they are very organized in logging your hours if you are needing it documented. I would come back.

I'm not apart of the yelp elite squad I came to fill in for my sister who was currently training to help serve our country. One of the great things about being apart of the yelp elite team isn't just having the title of being an "elite" but being able to give a part of your time to help the community out. So if by chance you have an hour or two to spare please come help the food bank out. We made over 7,000 meals for those kids who don't have much food during the weekend and only rely on food at school during the week days. To Ms. Julie, thanks for allowing me to help with this communities food bank and most importantly to all the yelp elites, schools, and organizations who took their time out to help as well. #mydayoffwasntwasted

The best food bank I've ever volunteered at. Amazing, supportive staff, and very organized environment. Super clean, which was comforting in the time we are now. Over all an amazing experience. And will continue volunteering.

A few super cool Yelpers came out last night to volunteer @rfbo, and I think we would all agree it was a wonderful experience. Thursday nights are Rock-N-Box, where volunteers sort, organize and package food items ready to go to Oklahoma's hungry. I'm not joking when I say it was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time, with the added benefit of making you feel good. They had two DJs spinning some killer hip hop, and everyone knew the words and was kind of singing or dancing along. We were able to visit with each other and be a little silly, and the three hours flew by. One of the guys who works there even did some freestyling. He was good and it just made it even more fun and unique. I didn't know the Knights of Columbus guys knew the words to old school rap but it appears some of them do! There were lots of groups there but individuals can also volunteer. The facility itself is beautiful and spotless. The ground floor level is where the sorting happens, and upstairs is a volunteer break room where you gather before the evening starts and during a mid-evening break. It was wonderful see how every dollar donated is utilized to fight hunger. We were putting together the bags for the kid's backpack program, which helps keep kids from going hungry over the weekend. We were doing elementary school kids backpacks, which contain only items that require no cooking, such as cereal, fruit cups, milk and juice boxes, pretzels, etc. Sometimes this food may be most or all of what some kids have to eat all weekend. Putting everything together is a well-oiled machine: an assembly line set-up gets the bags put together, and someone weighs each bag to make sure all bags are exactly the same. I like this because I imagine that a hungry kid probably always (understandably) feels like they've been shortchanged. Double checking to make sure they're all the same seems more important in this situation. I was helping to seal the bags before they got boxed up. They then also weighed the boxes to be absolutely certain all the backpacks would be refilled. It seems nothing slips past their system and they do a good job of keeping the night on track while being friendly and fun to volunteers. You just kinda wanted to bless each bag, send a little love as you seal it up, and hope that the kid who gets it has a little bit better of a weekend. All the while, singing along to Beastie Boys - an enthusiastic five stars.

The cause's importance goes without mention. Come on folks.They make it so easy to volunteer and is super family friendly.You enter and are greeted by coordinators then you go upstairs to sign in and are briefed on the tasks and are grouped depending on amount of volunteers. There are up to three different packing and sorting stations going at once. After you're done then there's cleanup and a dismissal.

I volunteered here for my first time last night with a group of Yelpers and we had a great time! This place really knows how to coordinate and get the most work done with the people they have and the time allotted. I would definitely recommend choosing the Food Bank if you haven't volunteered in a while or if you just are getting started because they make it very easy for you to get involved! They recently transitioned into a online sign-up system so it will be even easier to know when and how to volunteer with this organization that does so much good for Oklahomans in need.

Helping to pack up almost 4,000 pounds of frozen zucchini was so much FUN! Volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is easy, runs like a well oiled machine and did I say FUN? Each year volunteers have helped them save in excess of $3 million in labor costs! If you are looking for an easy worthwhile way to volunteer, grab a few friends, sign up ahead of time at their site and help feed the hungry in Oklahoma. The statistics are staggering but you will make a difference!

A bit of benevolence is good from time to time and the feeling of goodness you receive after volunteering at the Regional Food Bank is unlike any other. There is really nothing else that can make you feel THAT good inside because helping people in need is really what it's all about. All the volunteers that have ever been to the food bank know what I'm talking about.I came with a few other yelpers from 6-9pm on a Thursday night. They had a DJ and played hip-hop all night. We were able to package over 5,000 pounds worth of donations for children who do not have enough food on the weekends or over holidays. It might be hard to imagine that you would have fun working your ass off at the food bank on a Thursday night after a long day of work, but fun is exactly what we had. I am hoping to make a habit out of this and I want to try to volunteer at least 2 nights a month now. 96% of all monetary donations to RFBO go directly toward feeding the hungry since they have less than 100 employees and volunteers make this possible. It is really hard to explain the feeling you will receive after volunteering here. You have to find out for yourself.

I made a donation in December 2021 and have asked for a statement for my taxes on two occasions. I have left two messages without any return calls.