OGDEN -- There were a whole lot of happy people going in and out of Your Community Connection on Thursday.
That's because they were giving away and receiving food packages specifically for families with children in need.
Feed the Children delivered food and hygiene boxes and bottled water for about 400 families, each package worth about $125.
The delivery was in partnership with employees at Teleperformance who paid for the supplies and who showed up Thursday to help distribute them.
"I love helping people," said Charlotte Beckstead, a Teleperformance employee. "I give every month, and I've been doing it for 10 years."
Beckstead said she likes giving out the donations because the people who receive them are so grateful.
"I'm grateful that I get to have a paycheck and I get to feed my kids," she said, noting that such a blessing helps her feel thankful that she can help others do the same.
Teleperformance is a national corporation with call centers in a number of locations, including Ogden.
The company's employees have sponsored several semitrailers full of food and supplies this year for families in various locations throughout the country.
Families selected to receive the aid were given vouchers ahead of time, which they redeemed Thursday.
Raquel Lee, assistant director at YCC, said not all the families who received food boxes were YCC clients.
YCC, Catholic Community Services and Head Start helped identify the families to receive the food packages.
"The good thing about this community is we work as an interrelated net," Lee said. "When one gets something, we all share."
Some of those with vouchers were in line more than an hour before the food and hygiene items were to be distributed.
"You realize their need," Lee said of those who came early even though they were guaranteed the food because they had vouchers. "They are afraid they are not going to get it."
This is the second year for the distribution.
Dianne Blue, human resource site coordinator for the Ogden Teleperformance center, said the more than 500 employees there were thrilled with the chance to help.
"We do payroll deductions that go toward Feed the Children," she said. "This is a wonderful thing to do."
She said employees also raise funds through bake sales and barbecues, and collect food for YCC clients in food drives.
A news release from Feed the Children states that more than one in three children living in Ogden, 33.8 percent, is considered impoverished.
The number of impoverished children in Utah, it states, is 135,565, which is enough to fill the Dee Events Center at Weber State University more than 11 times.
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