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How to help Houston's storm recovery efforts | Houston Food Bank needs volunteers

Volunteers are needed as the Houston Food Bank said it still needs to fill about 3,600 disaster orders.

HOUSTON — The Houston Food Bank needs help as they continue to try to feed those in need.

The local nonprofit has been working diligently since the derecho hit the Houston area last week.

In their warehouse, they have a carousel room, which gets its name because as food is separated, it's organized into containers and then put onto a carousel, like a conveyor belt, that moves the items to the next destination.

The process is one of the reasons the Houston Food Bank needs volunteers, like the 200 from Halliburton who showed up on Tuesday, to help with sorting and packing.

They're putting together disaster boxes that each contain about 10 meals.

If you need help, there's a new website where you can type in your address and it will show you the closest places where storm victims can pick up food -- there are a lot of them around the city.

"A lot of elected officials, government officials are setting up distribution sites so we're supplying those as well -- and at cooling centers," Houston Food Bank's Amy Ragan said.

Corporate partners like Baker Hughes, who just announced a $75,000 grant Wednesday to support the food bank's emergency operations,  are a big help. But they need more volunteers for all shifts, seven days a week. You can sign up on the Houston Food Bank website. Kids 6 and up are welcome.

Since the storms hit, the Houston Food Bank has given out about 400,000 pounds of food. That boils down to 165 pallets of food, water and supplies. They still have about 3,600 more disaster orders to fill.

If you've ever been affected by a natural disaster or lost power for days and the food in your refrigerator went bad, you know how much it can mean.

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