With a few more days before Christmas, volunteers with Dowagiac’s annual holiday food drive are a few thousand dollars shy of their goal.

After several weeks of collecting donations from Cass County residents and businesses, organizers with the 2016 Feed the Hungry campaign have raised around $16,500 of the $20,000 they set out to raise when they kicked off the effort in November. The volunteers are looking to reach that amount by weeks end, when the campaign ends, said Jim Allen, the head of the yearly effort.

“Everything is going good,” Allen said. “We just need some extra dollars to get us over the hump. We are so close to the goal.”

People can donate to the campaign by stopping by the Dowagiac First Source Bank or Honor Credit Union branches, and dropping off cash or checks in the donation boxes set up at those locations. Donors can also leave money with a box set up inside the C. Wimberley Ford dealership.

All contributions will go toward paying for food items for several area food pantries, with every dollar raised being able to buy $4 or more worth of goods through the Feeding America program, Allen said. Deliveries will take place throughout the year, with the first coming Thursday outside the car dealership.

Last year, the fundraiser — started in 2010 by C. Wimberley employees — brought in nearly $25,000 in donations.

“If it was not for all the people helping me or all the donors who step up, this thing could not happen every year,” Allen said. “The whole city seems to rally behind the cause. It is a great thing to see.”

Around 100 people are expected to attend Thursday’s food drop off, which begins at 11 a.m., Allen said.

In the meantime, Allen is asking the public to make a contribution in order help push this year’s campaign over the top, he said.