Washington County Farm Bureau Plans 15th Annual Food Drive for Greater Washington Food Bank

Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 March 2017 04:17

Washington County Farm Bureau will be hosting their 15^th Farm Bureau Food Drive benefiting Greater Washington County Food Bank. Donors should be aware that the food collected will benefit the local food pantry associated with the donations, i.e. everything collected in the McDonald area will go to the McDonald Food Pantry.

A list of food drive box locations can be found at www.gwcfb.org. For more information on the Farm Bureau Food Drive, please contact Heidi Hoffman at the Greater Washington County Food Bank at donorrelations@gwcfb.org.

Also, note the following food challenges:

Library Food Challenge - The library that collects the most pounds of canned goods will receive a monetary prize. All of the food collected at those locations will go to their local food pantries. We encourage local businesses, schools, government offices and organizations to participate in the Library Food Challenge. Please contact Diane Ambrose - Washington County Library Systems - dambrose@comcast.net for additional information.

4-H Food Club Challenge – Every year, the 4-H clubs in Washington County collect food for the drive. The clubs that collect the most pounds of canned goods receive monetary prizes. These prizes allow each of the clubs to perform community service for their members and be able to give back to the community. The past several years the club members have not only collected for the drive, but they have helped to sort the collection at the food bank.

Library Food Challenge/4-H Food Club Challenge Funds - For the past several year local ag/non-ag companies and organizations have supported the food drive effort. They have donated money that into each of the funds. That prize money helps to fund their operating expenses.

Additionally, each year, we receive the support of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, state and federal politicians. In 2016, the Farm Bureau Food Drive collected 15,600 pounds of food. This year we hope to surpass that number and are reaching for 17,000 pounds of food. The drive this year will last from February 1 – March 31.