After hearing Maine-Endwell New York Teacher of the Year Rachel Murat describe her heart-breaking expereinces as a volunteer for the Community Outreach Hunger Warehouse (CHOW), BOCES computer programmer Karen Oliva decided to launch a GoFundMe effort to help assuage the hunger pains being felt in our community. To her surprise, donations from colleagues at BOCES' regional information center (RIC) within hours bypassed the $500 goal she had set, soaring past the $4,000 mark in couple of days.
"This has definitely surpassed my expectations and that of the staff at CHOW," Oliva said. "The staff I work for are always very generous. We have a wonderful group of staff at the RIC."
The effort soon caught the attention of local media outlets, lifting Oliva's modest undertaking into a community venture.
"I didn't expect anything like this," she said. "I just wanted to help feed people."
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, CHOW officials say they have gone from providing 5,000 meals a day to 27,000 meals a day. Each dollar donated can provide up to five meals.