Barcodes, Inc. held a friendly competition all for a great cause. The point of the competition pitted department against department, all in an effort to see who could collect the most books during the company’s 1st annual book drive. At the end of the competition, Barcodes, Inc. collected a total of 260 books to donate to Open Books.

Open Books is a nonprofit organization that looks to provide literacy experiences for tens of thousands of readers each year. Through their instructional programs they cultivate the literacy skills of thousands of children and youth each year, from those who need intervention to those who desire enrichment. Through their book programs they provide readers of all ages with engaging, appropriate, and high-quality books. Open Books delivers thousands of books to schools and nonprofits across the Chicagoland area each week.

The Panasonic Toughbook 31 is more than just a reliable laptop equipped with Intel Core i5 and i3 processors. The leader in fully rugged design is also being used by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in their roll out of new police squad cars. The new squad cars will be used to help reduce the gun violence in the city of Chicago and the Toughbook 31 will be lending a helping hand.

The rugged laptop computer will come equipped with ShotSpotter app, an app that will instantly alert law enforcement personnel of gunfire. Each alert will provide crucial information for each incident including: incident time, number of rounds, and the location of the incident with a highlighted evidence search area. Along with the ShotSpotter app the Toughbook 31 will also have real-time crime mapping, police databases, and electronic crash reporting.

The first roll out of the new CPD squad cars will feature 40 vehicles and should reach a total of 550 vehicles patrolling the street come early next year. All to help keep the streets of Chicago safe.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a nonprofit food distribution and training center that provides food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our local communities. The depository makes a daily impact across Cook County with a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, mobile programs, children’s programs, older adult programs and innovative responses that address the root causes of hunger.

Barcodes Inc recently came out to the GCFD warehouse to lend a helping hand with their food repacking. Much of the donations that come into the depository are in large palette-sized containers that need to be repacked into smaller boxes to be easily distributed to food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters throughout Cook County.

During the few hours spent there, the Barcodes Inc group was able to repack 11,650 lbs of cabbage for easy delivery to our communities.

You can find more information on how to volunteer to help stamp our hunger in the Chicagoland area at the GCFD website.

About 1 out of every 6 Chicagoans will use meal programs this year – that’s 812,100 people or 232,100 households! The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s largest event (1 City, 1 Food Drive) strives to make sure ‘No One Goes Hungry’ this holiday season by offering drop-off locations in the Chicago area.

Barcodes, Inc has rallied together and collected approximately 600 pounds of food during this Thanksgiving Food Drive – making it the largest contributor for our drop-off location and really shows how small acts of kindness can make a big difference.

The giving does not have to end here. If you would like to support the Food Depository Food Drive please visit their website at How To Help.