Otis’ Farmington campus interns volunteer at Foodshare

(Written by Courtney Ojard, one of the interns who volunteered, and first published on the Otis intranet site)

On Saturday, June 23, a group of interns from Otis' Farmington campus volunteered at Foodshare, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting greater Hartford’s fight against hunger.

This is the second year interns have participated in a community service project. The goal of this event was to support Foodshare in the inspection and repacking of fresh produce at the Connecticut Regional Market in Hartford.

“I enjoyed working with all the different groups of people,” said Terrial Collins, an engineering intern working at Otis’ Engineering Center in Farmington. “I met individuals from UnitedHealthcare and the Peace Corps.”

Serving more than 128,000 hungry neighbors in greater Hartford, Foodshare relies on outside donations, as well as help from more than 3,600 local volunteers. In 2011, the organization distributed 12 million pounds of food. “We depend heavily on volunteer hours in order to meet the growing need,” said Amanda Renna, communications specialist at Foodshare. “Last year, volunteers contributed over 40,000 hours to our mission of ending hunger.”

“The UTC community provides a great amount of support for Foodshare,” said Renna. In fact, United Technologies employees serve as board members, volunteers and donors for the non-profit organization.

“It was fun to represent Otis,” said Ayana Jordan, a human resources intern at Otis’ NSAA headquarters. “All of us are learning a lot from our internships but it’s also important that we develop as individuals and become part of the community.”

The internship programs at Otis provide a great opportunity for young professionals to network and gain hands-on experience in their field.

“I appreciate the opportunities that Otis has provided me,” said Kweyah McLemore, a finance intern at Otis’ NSAA headquarters. “I also really enjoy getting to know the interns from different departments.” The volunteer group also included two students from Georgia and Missouri.

Along with working to create a hunger-free community, Foodshare is focused on reducing waste. Foodshare’s main office, in Bloomfield, is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. “We are committed to being as green as possible. It helps to ensure 95 percent of all donations continue to directly support our work of ending hunger,” said Renna.

“I was impressed with the recycling procedures at Foodshare,” said Ryan Driggs, a finance intern at Otis’ NSAA headquarters. “Nothing goes to waste.” Donated food that cannot be used by Foodshare is used to support local farms.

“Our volunteers are very diverse,” said Renna, “we have groups of all ages, from teenagers to retirees.” Foodshare is always looking for new volunteers. For more information on becoming involved in building a hunger-free greater Hartford, please visit foodshare.org.

Interns volunteer for the day at Foodshare, a local nonprofit organization. From Left: Ayana Jordan; Courtney Ojard; Terrial Collins; Amber Joelle, United Healthcare intern; Ryan Driggs; and Kweyah McLemore.

The group packed sweet potatoes and sorted lettuce to support Foodshare.