'Stuff a truck'

It’s 11 a.m., and Dave Saffell is helping unload a truck full of food.

Saffell is the general manager of general merchandise for Hy-Vee, and he’s putting the finishing touches on a week-long partnership between Hy-Vee and south Omaha’s Mission for All Nations.

“It’s important to give back to the community,” he said. “There’s a definite need. Mission for All Nations does no advertising, so a lot of people don’t know about them . . . That’s one way that we can help them get their name out there.”

Mission For All Nations partnered with Hy-Vee and the community to collect food for the needy in its largest food drive of the year last week. All 11 metro Hy-Vees had food sacks for sale to provide food for the Mission, the area’s largest food pantry.

The donations filled about 11 trucks in what the mission called a “stuff a truck” event. On Monday, Saffell and others were unloading the trucks at the missions 5218 S. 21st St. location.

Shoppers purchased approximately 4,000 sacks of food, which were placed in trucks outside the stores. More than 450 volunteers spent 1,100 hours collecting food and donations for this event. This year nearly $70,000 in food and donations were collected.

“We really hope that each person that participates feels like they made a difference,” said Mary Anaya, cofounder and executive director of the mission. “We’re very grateful for the increase in bag sales.”

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