Community nears goal in food drive challenge

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/15/community-nears-goal-in-food-drive-challenge/


August Kryger


Brad Fraizer, president of Columbia Professional Firefighters, holds a sign Thursday morning at Broadway and Providence Road. Columbia firefighters and others are putting on a last-minute push to meet the goal of collecting 1 million pounds of food for The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri by 6 p.m. Thursday.

By ANDREW DENNEY
Thursday, December 15, 2011


Organizers of a food drive for The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri say donations picked up in the final hours of the effort and the goal of collecting 1 million pounds of food appears to be within reach.

The effort began last month when Mayor Bob McDavid issued a challenge to Columbia residents. Peggy Kirkpatrick, executive director of the food bank, said yesterday afternoon that the effort had raised less than 300,000 pounds of food.

But Brad Fraizer, president of Columbia Professional Firefighters, said that by 11 a.m. today, the volume of donations had doubled.

“It’s huge,” Fraizer said. “We’re really shocked at how generous the community is being.”

Columbia firefighters have been a major part of the effort — they have accepted donations at fire stations since the effort began, and Columbia Fire Chief Charles Witt and Deputy Chief Randall White have each pledged to donate 1 ton of food to the drive.

To take part in the effort, would-be donors may either give food or a monetary donation — a $1 donation translates into 20 pounds of food. Donations are being collected at Broadway and Providence Road and at Schnucks and Walmart stores throughout the city. Donation bins also are available at City Hall. The drive ends at 6 p.m. today.

Last year, the food bank distributed 27.4 million pounds of food to area schools and food pantries.

This year, officials at the food bank expect to distribute about 30 million pounds. Through the first 11 months of the year, the food bank has distributed 350,000 more pounds of food to 135 pantries and 138 schools in the 32-county region.

According to food bank statistics, the number of Boone County residents who receive food assistance increased from 14,628 per month in 2009 to 20,016 per month this year, and 42 percent of Columbia Public Schools’ elementary and middle school students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch.

This morning, state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, delivered more than 500 pounds of ham donated by Kansas City-based Farmland Foods as part of the effort. Schaefer said the company also would like to meet with food bank officials to assess their need for protein-rich food, which he said is hard for the food bank to access.

Schaefer said he has also pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would extend for an additional 10 years a tax credit for foods pantries that expired in August. The credit was aimed at small- to midlevel donors and was worth as much as 50 percent of their donation with a $5,000 cap.

Reach Andrew Denney at 573-815-1719 or e-mail akdenney@columbiatribune.com.