Story last updated at 12:55 am on
11/8/2007
Four leaders from Obninsk, Russia, participating in the Open World Program, will spend Saturday through Nov. 18 in Oak Ridge and Knoxville examining the “Second Harvest Food Bank: Hunger Relief Concept” project.
Obninsk is a sister city to Oak Ridge, and the Oak Ridge Sister City Support Organization will host the delegation.
A community-wide reception welcoming the delegates will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Cheyenne Ambulatory Center conference room, 944 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The reception is being co-sponsored by Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.
The goal of the program is to adapt the existing Oak Ridge/Knoxville-based food bank concepts to Obninsk and potentially other Russian cities and regions that would like to start a similar program for feeding those in need in their areas.
America’s Second Harvest Food Bank program addresses the problem of domestic hunger by distributing donated food and grocery products to low-income people who might otherwise go hungry. The program recycles properly processed foods from local resources, such as grocery stores and restaurants, thus saving the food that otherwise would have been wasted.
The “Second Harvest Food Bank: Hunger Relief Concept” project will help delegates from Obninsk create hands-on tools and ideas to establish a food bank in their city, according to information provided to The Oak Ridger.
During various workshops, seminars, and events, organized within the scope of the program, delegates will meet and interact with numerous individuals working in the field of food banking, which will facilitate future collaboration and an exchange of ideas.
The visiting delegates are:
• Oleg Kolesnikov, founder and owner of the discount store chain Rodnoy LLC;
• Darya Kostina, general director, Prod Industria LLC (a restaurant);
• Father Aleksey Polyakov of St. Boris and Gleb Laity; and
• Yelena Kornilova, director, Municipal Enterprise’s Municipal Veteran's Club.
Natalya Osmakova, programmer, St. Petersburg State University, will accompany the group as a facilitator.
Home stays will allow the Open World delegates to experience American family life, a press release stated.
They will also take part in several cultural and community activities — including tours of Oak Ridge, Knoxville, the Smoky Mountains and a night at the Cotton Eyed Joe.
For more information, contact Ken Luckmann at (865) 483-3958 or kluckmann@bellsouth.net; Tom Row at (865) 482-9096 or tomhrow@bellsouth.net; or George Felcyn at (202) 466-6210.