Discount Two-Way Radio has been helping doctors, hospitals, first responders, and other essential industries during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing industrial quality 2-way radio equipment and top-notch communication advice. However, recently Discount Two-Way Radio extended these efforts to help support Roosevelt Comunityh4U, a community food bank that has been overwhelmed by the demand for food in throughout the State of New Jersey. By donating some RCA two-way radios, the food bank allowed the volunteers to seamlessly coordinate deliveries, collaborate more productively, and communicate more efficiently.

“The truth is we have a hard policy about not donating equipment for any reason. But in light of the current situation, we changed our policy this one time. It was a good cause and it really helped improve the food bank’s ability to help people who don’t have enough food,” said Ben Burns, Founder and CEO of Discount Two-Way Radio.

Helping Serve More than 350 People a Week

“The need for this food bank is really significant. We started Roosevelt Community4U in 2014, and back then we were delivering approximately 60-100 non-perishable food packages a month. Now that has shot up to 350 a week due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Nathan Hezrony, logistics manager for Roosevelt Community4U.

According to a recent article in the NY Times, demand for food assistance across the country is rising at an extraordinary rate while the nation’s food banks are being hit by shortages of both donated food and volunteer workers. In addition, Feeding America, the nation’s largest food bank network has projected a $1.4 billion shortfall in the next six months alone, and emphasized how important donations are to help food banks fill a critical void in food pantries. That’s why people like Jeff Bezos, Jenifer Lopez, Michael Jordan, Lady Gaga, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oprah Winfrey, and Leonardo DiCaprio have all donated millions to the cause.

In addition, FeedingAmerica.org estimates that 4 in 5 food banks across the country are serving more people now than they did a year ago, and that approximately 5 million people volunteered at food banks per month before COVID-19 hit. The number of volunteers is drastically down as many traditional volunteers are in the higher risk category and are staying home.

“People have no idea how badly this COVID-19 is impacting families all over. I see people driving through in luxurious cars, and you might think that someone with such a car, why would he go to get a basket of food. Well because they really need help. That same person waited three hours in line in their car just to get food. It just makes you feel so good to know said Nathan.

While it uses a central location to store and distribute food, the Roosevelt Community4U food bank also coordinates drives through distribution centers throughout the Central New Jersey area including East Windsor, Twin Rivers, Cranbury Township, Millstone, and even Newark and Trenton.

“My job is to manage the logistics of the deliveries, which is not easy. We have one truck that can load six pallets of food, and most drive through locations use 70 to 80 pallets. You can imagine how much running back and forth is required to get all the food there. But then if we go to Newark which is an hour away, so it takes us the entire night to make the deliveries,” said Nathan.

Using the RCA RDR2500 two-way radios have helped Nathan and the Roosevelt

Community4U Food Bank drastically improve its ability to coordinate and increase its efficiency and overall effectiveness.

“These radios have been really important for us and the food bank. I was really impressed with how well the work. For example, I was working on a drive through distribution point and I could talk with one of our trucks that was at least a mile away. Having two-way radios saves so much time because instead of running back and forth, we can communicate with each other and do a much better job of coordinating everything. Telephones are just not practical. You have to look find the number and then actually drop whatever you’re doing to dial the number. We are so grateful to Discount Two-Way Radio for helping us improve our communications with their two-way radios,” said Nathan.