FOOD BANK NEEDS HELP TO GROW AGENCY READY TO BUILD BIGGER STORAGE WAREHOUSE.(Local)

Byline: Grace O'Connor Staff writer

The sun was at zenith recently when Rachel Michaud of Slingerlands picked strawberries in a field.

Despite the 98 temperature, she and six teenagers from the Project Equinox shelter in Albany gleaned 40 pounds of ripe berries to be distributed through the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

Michaud began working at the Food Bank in 1986 as a VISTA volunteer and now is a part-time employee of the agency, working in and out of the office. Side by side, volunteers and paid staff create the vehicle through which a caring community can fight hunger.

The bank began providing food to programs for the …