Volunteers keep Colorado children from going hungry during weekends

Xcel Energy partners with about 40 non-profit organizations all over the state for it's Day of Service. One of the projects is an on-going effort to provide food for children who otherwise would have none over the weekend.

"It's on my heart," said Bob Bell, founder of Food for Thought Denver.

Bell started packing bags of food for Denver students who suffer from food insecurity in 2012. In 12-years, the effort has grown from one school to 75; and Food for Thought Denver now provides between 35,000 – 40,000 bags of food every month to students in need.

"You learn about, what I thought was 300 kids now it's 18,000 kids, who for no choice of their own, they have nothing it eat, how can you not?" Bell said.

Every Friday morning under a highway viaduct, volunteers pack what Food for Thought Denver calls a PowerSack. It includes enough non-parishable food for a family of four to have two meals plus snacks. There is food in the sack that the children can prepare themselves; and a recipe and ingredients to make a more complex meal. Food for Thought Denver has no paid employees, so the entire organization relies on volunteer help.

"It all hinges on them showing up. So, when they come down here, it just breathes life into what we do," Bell explained.

The project is a part of Xcel Energy's 2024 Day of Service; but there was a group of Xcel Energy employees out at the packing project during a recent Friday.

"It makes me feel great. I mean the energy here, this morning, is awesome. Everybody's smiling; and it's a beautiful morning; and it just feels good to give back and help out," said Robert Holschuh, an accounting consultant for Xcel Energy.

Holschuh and his co-workers put together this volunteer opportunity on their own, and will likely come back to the project during Day of Service.

"It's one of my favorite things about Xcel so far is that it's a lot of community service," Holschuh told CBS News Colorado.

LINK: Xcel Energy's Day of Service

This is Xcel Energy's 13th annual Day of Service. It will play out over two service days: Friday, September 13, 2024 and Saturday, September 14, 2024.