The Idaho Foodbank's President and CEO Karen Vauk with Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Connors.

The Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce has announced The Idaho Foodbank is this year’s “Making a Difference” Community Service Award winner.  The honor was announced during the Chamber’s Small Business and Nonprofit Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, May 15, at the Boise Centre.

The Idaho Foodbank provides donated and purchased food to hungry Idahoans through a comprehensive network of 220 community-based partners in the lower 39 of Idaho’s 44 counties, said the Chamber’s statement.  Along with the generosity of individuals, groups and organizations who donate food and funds,  the Foodbank’s staff is driven to meet the ever-growing demand for food assistance brought on by the latest economic downturn.

The Foodbank was chosen as the winner from among six finalists.  The others were Big Brother Big Sisters of Southwest Idaho, Children’s Home Society of Idaho, Idaho Youth Ranch, Young Life and Wish Granters.

“There are so many nonprofits among our membership who do outstanding work for the community.  The field of finalists represented just a fraction of those great organizations, said Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bill Connors. “We congratulate The Idaho Foodbank for winning the award and its continuing efforts in the very difficult task of taking on the problem of food insecurity in Idaho.”

The Idaho Foodbank's Amy Mitchell, Jenifer Johnson, Karen Vauk and Michael Martin.

When the mail trucks rolled in at the Meridian Post Office, the volunteers loaded the food into Postal Service carts, pushed them to the sorting tables where they separated canned and dry food, and then loaded it into the semi trailer that would haul it to the Boise warehouse.

It is just an estimate, and a conservative one at that, but it appears the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive raised 170,400 pounds Saturday. If so, this year’s drive will show a nice improvement over last year’s total of 165,630 pounds.

The estimate is based on the number of large containers filled at Post Offices across the Valley. Because of an internal audit that will take place in the warehouse Monday and Tuesday, we won’t be able to get an accurate weight until Wednesday. Watch this space for a final count.

Our deep thanks to the 200-plus volunteers, all the thousands of donors who put food out, the media for all their assistance, and especially to the hundreds of hard-working letter carriers, without whom this drive would not have been possible.

At the Meridian Post Office, volunteers sort food quickly and move it to the semi.

Boise's main Post Office on S. 13th St., was one of the last sites to finish Saturday.

At the Meridian Post Office, volunteers empty a letter carrier's truck.