More than 30 Pantex employees volunteered their time on May 29 to pack food boxes at High Plains Food Bank, demonstrating a growing commitment from the region’s largest employer to support hunger relief efforts in the Texas Panhandle.
From 6 to 8 p.m., Pantexans filled boxes with shelf-stable food items, working in two-hour shifts to support HPFB’s mission of feeding more than 13,000 households monthly across a 29-county region.
“This group came straight from work,” said Laura Bailey, senior director for communications and public affairs at Pantex. “They’re not doing this for credit or recognition — it’s just out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Bailey said the idea for “Pantex Night at the Food Bank” emerged after the launch of the Fill the Gap campaign, a $250,000 initiative to address a critical food shortfall after the unexpected cancellation of 13 USDA truckloads.
“Several Pantex employees reached out asking how they could help,” Bailey said. “So I got in touch with the food bank, and we signed up to send volunteers once a month through the end of the year — and potentially more if there’s need. It was an immediate and enthusiastic response.”
According to Bailey, the sign-up was easy — and overwhelming in the best way.
“I had two people volunteer to coordinate teams, and within 48 hours, we had more than 30 people committed,” she said. “They weren’t getting paid for their time. This was after hours, and they still showed up. It really speaks to the kind of people who work at Pantex.”
HPFB officials say partnerships like this are critical to their ability to distribute food efficiently, especially during high-demand seasons.
“Pantex has been a longtime supporter of the food bank, but what they’re doing now with recurring volunteer nights is incredible,” said Zivorad Filipovic, director of marketing and communications for HPFB. “Their presence gives us peace of mind. We know we can keep product moving out of our warehouse and into the hands of families that need it.”
“Volunteers are essential. We couldn’t turn food around without them,” Filipovic said.
In 2024, HPFB volunteers logged nearly 25,000 hours, a contribution valued at more than $340,000 in labor, Filipovic said.
“We’d need a significantly larger staff to keep up with the volume if we didn’t have volunteers,” he added. “Groups like this allow us to stretch every donated dollar further and serve more people.”
That impact is especially critical in the summer months.
“People are traveling, school groups are out of session, and yet our need doesn’t slow down — it increases,” Filipovic said. “Summertime is when we feel the pinch. That’s why we’re so thankful for companies like Pantex stepping in.”
The May 29 group included employees from the infrastructure maintenance division and a second team organized by Alex Guglielmetti, an IT professional who recently helped launch a community-building network for newer hires at the plant.
“We call it the Social Circle,” Guglielmetti said. “Many of us are new to Amarillo and to Pantex, so we meet regularly to build connections. When I heard about this opportunity, I called a few friends — and 15 people volunteered within 24 hours.”
Guglielmetti, a recent transplant from California, said the experience opened his eyes to Amarillo’s sense of civic spirit.
“There’s something really special about how people in the Panhandle show up for each other,” he said. “Coming from Los Angeles, it’s a different world. Here, folks are ready to help with no hesitation.”
Pantex, which employs approximately 4,600 people, has supported HPFB for decades, including an annual $10,000 donation to the “Together We Can” food drive each December. Bailey said the new monthly volunteer initiative aligns with the site’s Pantex Citizenship values, which emphasize giving back, compassion, and integrity.
“We’re proud of what we do at work, but this lets us extend that sense of purpose into the community,” Bailey said. “We all know how lucky we are. None of us are choosing between groceries and rent. But many of our neighbors are. So we show up — not just because we can, but because we should.”
Want to help?
Visit www.hpfb.org/volunteer to sign up or register a group for a shift.
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