Community Corner

Food Bank Asks for Community's Help to Fill Fords

The Fill a Ford food drive will take place on Saturday at Wegmans in Columbia.

 

Organizers of a food drive on Saturday are asking for the community's help to fill multiple Ford trucks with food that will be delivered directly to the Howard County Food Bank.

"We're counting on the generosity of people in the county," said Bita Dayhoff, president of the Howard County Community Action Council, which runs the food bank. "We hope to get enough food to fill our shelves to help us get ready for summer."

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Dayhoff said the summer is when food bank services are in highest demand because children are no longer receiving one or two meals from the school system.

The event on Saturday, coined Fill a Ford, invites residents to the front of Wegmans, where Apple Ford will provide trucks to be filled with food donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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All donations from the event will go directly to the food bank.

The event is being organized by Food for Tomorrow, which is a student led program coordinated by student interns in the office of County Council member Mary Kay Sigaty.

This is the event's first year, said Dayhoff, who said Wegmans, as well as Food for Tomorrow, have been wonderful partners of the Howard County Food Bank.

"Their contribution and support has allowed us to serve hundreds more families than we'd normally be able to serve ... actually, I would say thousands," said Dayhoff.

Since 2011, Food for Tomorrow has raised more than $22,000 and five tons of food, according to Sigaty's office.

On Saturday, Food for Tomorrow will be collecting the following items (as well as financial donations):

• Meal makers (pasta, pasta sauce, canned tuna or chicken, Tuna Helper, rice, beans) 
• Baking supplies (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cooking oil) 
• Breakfast choices (cereal, peanut butter, jam, granola bars, canned fruit) 
• Baby and personal care items (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, wipes, diapers) 

 


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