This week our Highlighted Site of the Week is the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank’s Harvest for Hunger Campaign. The Foodbank is a distribution center that supplies food to 430 community outreach organizations, which in turn help nearly 180,000 people in need in eight counties of Northeast Ohio. It is a Herculean effort.

I have seen the operation first-hand: The place is huge (85,000 square feet), super-organized, and amazingly clean. The people who work there are my heroes. They work hard, they are friendly to the many guests who arrive in need, and they love to share with the community about the work of the Foodbank.

Each year the Foodbank has a drive called Harvest for Hunger. As their website says, Harvest for Hunger is “one of the largest food and funds drive campaigns” in the nation and is a model for other communities. But with the pressures of a very difficult economy, the Foodbank has found that the level of need has greatly increased. They need our help.

If you are inclined, the Foodbank’s site can show you the many ways you can help with donations and volunteering. Probably one of the best ways to start would be to go and visit them – you’ll be happy you did. They also have a terrific social media program to keep you informed of their latest news. You can follow them on Twitter, “like” them on Facebook, see their videos on YouTube, and follow their blog.

Here is Akron-Canton Foodbank President and CEO Dan Flowers offering comments for Harvest for Hunger 2010:

We thank you, Akron-Canton Foodbank, for all of the wonderful work you do! We also thank the United Way of Summit County for its tremendous support and for spreading the word about the Foodbank.

I am thrilled State and Federal Communications is an organization that supports our local community and gets involved with groups who are striving to make it a better place. We have a Charitable Service program that allows employees to go out into the community and work for philanthropic service organizations. Last year we had a blast spending a day working at the Foodbank scooping pasta into new containers. We still talk about that fun day, and you can read our Lobby Comply post “Pasta, Pasta!” about it.