Food drive wraps up another successful season

Published 8:00 am Friday, December 23, 2016

By Ted Yoakum

Many local families will be eating well for Christmas — and beyond — as organizers with the city’s annual Feed the Hungry campaign wrapped up another successful food drive Thursday morning.

As in previous years, Dowagiac police and fire departments escorted a truck containing thousands of pounds of canned goods and other nonperishable food through town before stopping at the C. Wimberley Ford dealership lot. Awaiting the truck were dozens of volunteers, who joined local public safety officials to help unload the vehicle, distributing the food to seven area food pantries.

The drop-off caps another fruitful year of fundraising by volunteers with the seasonal drive, organized once again by Jim Allen and employees with C. Wimberley Automotive Group. Collecting donations since Thanksgiving, volunteers have exceeded their goal of $20,000, which will pay for food to help feed local families through the coming year.

“People were everywhere helping this year,” Allen said.

Although he has yet to count some of the most recent donations, Allen said he expects the campaign to have raised nearly $22,000 this season.

Around $5,000 of that total paid for the food brought in Thursday, which included boxes of macaroni and cheese, cereal, cans of soup and tuna and other items.

The remaining money will go toward paying for monthly stops by Feeding America’s mobile food pantries. Last year, the Feed the Hungry campaign paid for 20 visits by the food trucks, which distributed around 100,000 pounds of food to area families, said Jeff Neumann, president of ACTION ministries, one of the main recipients of the yearly effort.

“It is always a big community effort,” Neumann said about the fundraiser.

More Dowagiac

Dowagiac man gets probation and jail for assaulting former girlfriend, killing dog

Teacher/Staff Spotlight: Melissa Lillie, Kincheloe Elementary

2024 school board election results

2024 Cass County local election results

Print Article

SportsPlus