by G C Stoppel
This year the Allegan County Community Foundation is hoping to collect 10,000 cans of soup to be distributed to fourteen food pantries across the county. This is one of three food drives they sponsor each year, along with peanut butter during the winter and boxes of cereal for the summer.
At many churches and grocery stores in Allegan County you will see the large brown cardboard boxes, with the ACCF message about the need to be generous. “We do have a food shortage problem,” Amanda Chappell, the organization’s communications officer said.
“Once the project ends, we will be working to make sure there is an equitable distribution. If one panty collects, say, twenty cans of soup but needs 100, we’ll shift things around so we can take care of as many people as possible,” she added.
ACCF has done everything they can to make your support as easy as possible. Ms Chappell explained that people can buy cans of soup and put them in the box at the store, their place of worship, or some public places. Your contribution can also be brought to their offices on Locust Street in Allegan. Best of all is to make a financial contribution. If you have a smart phone, there is an app for the QR Reader on it, and you can follow the prompts to make your donation. Or a cash or check donation also works.
“There is a real advantage for everyone with a direct financial contribution,” Ms Chappell explained. “It is certainly easier for the donor than lugging around a bag of heavy cans. It also means that we can take their contribution, combine it with others, and then work with our partner, Aldi’s. We can get soup from them at their cost.”
The canned soup drive continues through the end of October, so if you have not lent a hand, now is the time to do it. For more information you can read about the ACCF online at their web site, or on Face Book. “A number of other area groups are also promoting this,” she said. “It’s wonderful. People really do care for others, even when they are struggling.”