Volunteers come together to 'Conquer Hunger' this summer for kids in Caldwell

Over 100 volunteers from the Caldwell community came together to prepare 'pantry packs' for hungry kids in Caldwell. D&B Supply partnered with MTN Ops to organize the event, with the goal of providing over 26,000 meals this summer to kids who rely on schools to stay well-fed.

• Volunteers packed over 5,000 'pantry packs' which will provide over 26,000 meals to hungry kids in Caldwell.
• The pantry packs will be distributed to kids through schools and local organizations throughout the summer.

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

"It's more rewarding than I can probably express," says Mark Schmitt, the President and CEO of D&B Supply. "If there's anything to do with land, animals, and kids, that's what we're after ultimately and the kids are our future and I think as a business and community partner we need to give back when we can."

He and his team coordinated over 100 volunteers from the Caldwell community to help pack up food for hungry kids this summer.

"We're here because MTN Ops has partnered with D&B Supply to pack over 5000 pantry packs that will go to the local community to provide meals and food for the children that need it most," says Nick Hanks, the COO of MTN Ops.

He tells me partnering with D&B got them the volunteer help they needed for this event.

"MTN Ops is based out of Utah, so we have a smaller team of eight. So we needed badly their volunteers of about 125 people so that we can make sure this runs smoothly," Hanks added.

"Well I think it's huge. You know kids are well fed during the year because they're able to get the food from the schools," says Caldwell Mayor Jarom Wagoner, who pitched in assembling those pantry packs.

He tells me some Caldwell kids have a difficult time staying well-fed while school is out for summer.

"Summer is a tough time, they don't have that food at the school, sometimes they don't have the food at home so this provides that gap in the summer months when they might not be able to get that food that they need," says Wagoner.

"We're here to take care of our kids in our community and make sure that they're fed and that's something they don't have to worry about," says D&B employee Allie Pettibone, who helped coordinate the event.

She doesn't want Caldwell kids to have to worry about where their next meal will come from.

"To let our kids be kids. You know they worry about way too much these days and to give them the opportunity to fill their bellies and go outside and have fun and be able to enjoy being a kid. I can't, you know I don't have a price for that," says Pettibone.