By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
One of the largest food drives benefiting Second Harvest Community Food Bank is happening this weekend across St. Joseph.
The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is on Saturday. Second Harvest CEO Chad Higdon says this drive is a great way to reach all the 19 counties the food bank serves.
Higdon says for the most part all of the food collected locally, stays local
“So, whatever, if it’s here in St. Joseph or a small rural community that we serve, that foods being collected locally and then distribute to a local pantry,” Higdon tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “So, it’s really a great event and we’re lucky to be a part of it.”
Higdon says this food drive comes at a critical time; A time when donations are typically down.
“Donations are typically lower in the summer months and food donations are down, and then you have kids at home with school out and those kinds of things make it a little tougher on families, so this is a critical time,” Higdon explains.
Bags of food will be collected by mail carriers all day on Saturday.
It’s been a fruitful few months for Second Harvest. A $10,000 donation from Metronet, local Mcdonalds raised money for its Backpack Buddies program, and now this upcoming drive.
Higdon says the food bank can’t run itself, so volunteers as well as corporate sponsorships, and events are important.
“We purchase a tremendous amount of food so the donations that come in really support that, we can’t get it out ourselves, so it takes volunteers helping in our mobile pantries and brick and mortar pantries throughout the region, and we’re just thankful to have that support to help families that really need us,” Higdon says.
Mail carriers will collect food from people’s mailboxes on Saturday during the Stamp Out Hunger Food drive. This is the 31st year for the food drive.
