Pell City donates 7,318 pounds of food to the Christian Love Pantry
Published 10:33 am Friday, May 28, 2010
While many things in today’s society are struggling, like the economy and businesses, Pell City’s annual food drive thrived and set new records.
Post offices across America joined together to collect food for National Food Drive Day on May 8. The Pell City and Cropwell Post Offices collected food to donate to the Christian Love Pantry.
Jeff Calloway, supervisor of customer service at the Pell City Post Office, said the annual food drive was a great thing for the community.
“It might be the biggest food drive that’s out today,” Calloway said. “It’s good to help people that are less fortunate than ourselves.”
Jan Swain, postmaster at the Cropwell Post Office, said the post office made flyers and put them in about 90 percent of the mailboxes in their area, which she said was the key to their success this year.
“There are families in the area that can benefit,” Swain said. “So, it’s important that the food contributed in the area goes to the people in this area.”
Mike Carr, director of the Christian Love Pantry, said he was overwhelmed with all the support.
“I’m really appreciative for what the post office and community did,” Carr said.
He said the postal workers did a wonderful job of getting the information out about the food drive and picking up all the food. “They had food in their floor boards and in the front seat and the back seat,” Carr said. “They had food everywhere.”
Cropwell donated about 900 pounds of food and Pell City donated 7,318 pounds, which is about three times as much as they gave last year. Prior to this drive, the largest food drive Carr could remember was in 2005 when 3,500 pounds of food was collected.
“It shows how much the community cares,” he said. “The way the economy is today, we’re going to continue to see people needing to get assistance.”
Carr said the Christian Love Pantry is always accepting money and food donations. “They don’t have to wait for a special food drive.”