OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University's rowing team helped feed more than 63,000 this week by volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma on Saturday.

Volunteer hours are critical to enabling the Food Bank to provide enough food to feed more than 63,000 Oklahomans each week throughout 53 central and western Oklahoma counties.

Working to feed hungry Oklahomans requires teamwork, a skill that goes hand-in-hand with rowing.

“Rowing requires each athlete to contribute with the same fervor as his or her teammates in order to get the best run of their boat,” OCU sculling coach Tempe Knopp said. “Some call it the ultimate team sport because the rowers all work in unison. Training in this way makes individuals very team oriented – and great assets for organizations like the Food Bank.”

In 2007, 15,539 volunteers donated 47,424 hours of service, saving the Food Bank $725,000 in labor.

There are a variety of tasks for Food Bank volunteers:

- Bagging and boxing products, like frozen meat or canned vegetables

- Boxing bread

- Cleaning 

- Filling bags for the Food Bank's programs

- Helping with food drives

- Sorting, weighing and boxing salvage

- Stuffing acknowledgements and bulk mailings

- Tagging bags

To volunteer at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, contact Liz Brandon (405) 604-7110 or Jackie Martin at (405) 600-3133.