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[INDIANAPOLIS, IN - March 17, 2010] - It’s a Saturday morning, a time for many to run errands and maybe even sleep in a little. However, within the packed aisles of Gleaner Food Bank, stacked floor to ceiling with food and other donated essentials, the whir of conveyor belts and laughter fill the halls as dozens of volunteers arrive.

On Saturday, March 13, 2010, Buckaroo Marketing | New Media teamed up with the Rotary Club of Indianapolis to laugh, serve and most of all help the hungry.

Together with the help of smaller groups of regular volunteers and local church groups and Rotarians, buckaroo helped assemble nearly 2,000 boxes and packages.

The team worked to help both the young and old by packaging food for two programs provided by Gleaners; the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) for the elderly and the BackSacks Weekend Food for children program.

The CSFP program benefits at-risk, low-income senior citizens by providing 40 pound boxes of supplemental food in coalition with the USDA and the State of Indiana. Participants receive a monthly, 40-pound box of supplemental food at one of more than 80 sites. Rotarians helped assemble over 1,370 CSFP boxes.

The group of volunteers also helped assemble and bundle food assortments for the food bank’s BackSacks – Weekend Food Program. Members filled over 560 bags with nutritious, kid-friendly and self-stable food for at-risk kids who do not have enough to eat on weekends.

The program reaches out to over 3,000 children in low-income areas who must rely heavily on school meals Monday through Friday and who typically go without food on the weekends. A donated BackSack is filled each Friday (and before holidays). The program is offered at Kids Café sites, Boys & Girls Clubs, and participating schools.

“As a parent myself, I understand the need to feed nutritious meals to children,” Deborah Daily, CEO of Buckaroo said, “I was just glad to help those in need and have fun in the process.”

According to Gleaners an estimated 86,424 children live in poverty in their 21 county service area. However with the BackSack Program, fewer children have to suffer through studying on empty stomachs over weekends.

Through partnerships with more than 350 not-for-profit hunger-relief programs, Gleaners serves more than 237,000 Hoosiers in 21 Indiana counties each year. Gleaners provides food and grocery items to food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and residential care centers — IRS-certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that feed people at no cost to the client.

With a record-breaking 88 volunteers, the Indianapolis Rotary Club strives to continue helping and serving those fellow Hoosiers in need. “While time is valuable, so is money,” according to Peggy Wulff Blackard, Gleaners Director of Development. “Gleaners is able to distribute six meals for every dollar donated. Plus, money never spoils. Interestingly enough the food bank donors are just like national donors, between 80 and 85% of our food bank donations come from individuals and the remaining 15 to 20% comes from corporations and foundations. This is a huge testament to the generosity of our community,” adds Blackard.

The Buckaroo team plans on making regular visits to the Gleaners Food Bank and encourage all those who wish to join them.

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Inc., was founded in a three-and-a-half-car garage in 1980. Ever since, they have grown as hunger has grown—fighting the crisis in central Indiana every step of the way. Their mission is simple and direct: To end hunger by engaging individuals and communities to provide food for people in need. Ultimately, Gleaners reaches thousands of people who need assistance. They are the working poor, the unemployed, single parents and the elderly. They are the homeless, the disabled, and the mentally ill. They are battered women, victims of disaster and helpless children. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, they work toward accomplishing their mission by securing, storing and redistributing donated food to more than 350 charities. For more information, visit www.gleaners.org or call 317.925.0191.

The Rotary Club of Indianapolis was founded in 1913, just eight years after the formation of the first club in Chicago. Club meetings are on Tuesday at Noon on the 2nd floor of the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis and are concluded by 1:15 PM. There are approximately 15 other clubs in the Indianapolis area. For more information about the Indianapolis Rotary Club visit www.indyrotary.org. The Club office is in suite A of the Historic Athenaeum Foundation Building, 401 East Michigan Street. Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians, members of more than 32,596 Rotary clubs in 168 countries. The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise. For more information, visit www.indyrotary.org

Buckaroo Marketing | New Media is a full service marketing company specializing in helping growing organizations achieve their marketing communications and revenue goals. Buckaroo uses a proprietary process to learn the relevant facts about you, your audience, your goals, and your strengths and weaknesses. From there, we can provide a number of options that will meet your needs, allowing you to determine how you want to move forward.

Founded in 1999, Buckaroo provides comprehensive marketing, advertising, website, email marketing and custom database-related services to companies that desire planned, strategic growth, helping clients to be visible. get noticed™! Buckaroo’s services have facilitated growth for clients within both the profit and nonprofit sectors.

Buckaroo is located at 7987 Wolford Court, Suite 200 in Fishers, IN and can be reached by telephone at 317.845.0830, by email at info@gobuckaroo.com or via the Internet at www.gobuckaroo.com.