During the annual Silicon Slopes Summit, volunteers are gathered to package one million meals to help feed Utah residents facing hunger.
The Silicon Slopes Summit attendees and members of the community who signed up for the Silicon Slopes Serves food drive gathered in the Salt Palace Convention Center on October 13 and 14 in hopes of meeting their goal of preparing one million meals, which will be donated to individuals and families with the help of the Utah Food Bank.
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According to president and CEO of the Utah Food Bank, Ginette Bott, approximately 58.5 million meals were donated to roughly 511,000 Utahns with food insecurity during the 2020–2021 fiscal year.
Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Utah Area President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, volunteered on Thursday afternoon.
“And that’s who we are. That’s what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about,” Elder Pearson said. “It’s serving as the Savior would serve and being aware of and willing to address the needs of others where we can.”
Volunteer Saul Leal said, “The volunteers have been so sweet. You come in and they’re applauding, they’re thanking you all the time and the synergistic effect that they provide towards serving is just mind-blowing. It’s a wonderful, wonderful spirit here.”
“Its part of our culture to serve in our community and we think it’s really important to get out and help others.” said Kasey Yardley, Director of Account Development for Brainstorm, one of the technology companies associated with Silicon Slopes.
Once the meals are prepared and assembled, the Utah Food Bank, located in Salt Lake City, will distribute the food aid to children and families all over the state.
“Tomorrow is World Food Day, for the whole world,” said Heath Bradley, Global Manager of JustServe. “It’s one of the few days where the whole globe comes together.”
Silicon Summit Serves is collaborating with several nonprofits, including Hunger Fight, JustServe, Latter-day Saint Charities and Silicon Slopes, to organize the two-day volunteer service project during the annual technology summit.
Equipped with gloves, hairnets, smiles and a willingness to serve their community during an 18-hour period, attendees are packing as many meals as possible, with food items like macaroni and cheese
Andrea Leal, signed up as a volunteer through JustServe, an online platform that links volunteers with anyone in North America who wants to make a difference in their community.
“I really liked it. It was super fun, doing a family event together and knowing that we’re helping other people," Andrea said.
“These great events bring awareness to the global problem, but there are people all around us who just need more love, more help and a little bit of support. And hopefully, this draws us closer to that,” Elder Pearson said.
Silicone Slopes Serves is the nonprofit organization of Silicon Slopes that focuses on empowering Utah’s startup and tech communities.