Schuylkill County PA Food Drive - When encouraged by our state office to have a food drive in our local Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) field office, I immediately knew if any Ag Center could make it successful it would be Schuylkill County. The four agencies housed in the Ag center; NRCS, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Conservation District and Cooperative Extension have a very unique partnership that you will not find just any where. Working closely together in numerous aspects make it a true agricultural center that is always ready, willing and able to meet the needs of the customers they serve. The Ag center is comprised of four agencies but most importantly a great group of people. The 2010 “Feds, Farmers and Friends Feed Families” food drive is a nationwide effort and therefore, the United States Departmnet of Agriculture (USDA) was encouraging its field offices and partners across the country to participate by donating to a local food bank, church or school. The food drive comes in response to the United We Serve Act and focuses on four key areas; education, health, energy and the environment and community renewal.
Here at the Ag Center we have it all! Fruits and vegetables from home gardens produce from local farmers or local farm markets and non-perishable items were all going to be accepted. I had arranged for the donations to be distributed to Schuylkill Community Action to distribute to local food banks. The Schuylkill Community Action (SCA) works with 18 food banks serving Schuylkill County. Because I was unsure of the amount and type of donations that would come in, we teamed up with SCA to help us get our items to an appropriate outlet. I also worked with the coordinator there to get in contact with local soup kitchens in which we could provide fresh fruit and produce. Collection boxes were put in each office and the collection dates were set from July 19th thru August 20th.
The first week I emptied the boxes and it totaled 39.5 pounds. I sent an e-mail thanking everyone and congratulating the winning office and encouraged them to increase their donations for next week. Week 2 got a little more interesting. Fresh produce started rolling in and I began making my contacts to get it into people’s homes as soon as possible. By the end of week two the building had collected 434 pounds of food. Dwane Miller, director of the extension office, was instrumental in collecting and donating over 200 pounds of fresh produce, putting his agency in the lead. Again, I sent an e-mail, but it was the next e-mail that everyone received that really kicked it up a notch. Terry Stehr, CED for the Farm Service Agency, followed my e-mail with one stating that FSA was going to “bury everyone next week.” Those who know Terry know that he always makes true on his promises. With a donation of 56 dozen ears of sweet corn, Terry’s agency, FSA, took the lead for week 3.
Now that everyone was psyched I was sure to find at least a hundred pounds of food every day waiting for me at my desk. Since the agency I work for, NRCS, only has 2 full time employees we will really bringing up the rear. Living on a farm myself I sent my husband out one early morning on week four of the food drive to load my car with sweet corn. Trunk loaded, I thought for sure we could at least come in second for the week. To my surprise, I arrived at work that day to be greeted by one thousand pounds of potatoes plus numerous other fresh vegetables. Conservation District manager, Liz Hinkel did an excellent job rounding up her employees to pitch in to purchase the potatoes. Let’s just say you should have seen the faces on the ladies at the Soup Kitchen when we pulled up in a truck with a pallet full of potatoes (20, - 50 pound bags)! After supplying them with all the potatoes they could want (and more) I was quick to locate another soup kitchen that was happy to receive the remaining produce.
Perhaps it was this week when I realized the true dedication that the numerous volunteers in Schuylkill County have for the community in which they live. I had the opportunity to stop by the soup kitchen the next day before they began serving. I was astonished at the amount of time these ladies had put into preparing the food we had donated. Fresh red beet eggs, fresh potato salad and much more was on the menu for the day. It was with great pride that I reported back to the other agencies that their fresh food donations were indeed getting put to good use. It was with that, that I tried to really give it one last shot for the last week of the food drive.
As I had hoped, week 5 and the last week of our food drive competition started out on a great note. FSA was setting the pace with a donation of 585 pounds of cantaloupe. It was perfect timing to be distributed that morning at a food pantry. People were already there waiting to receive food when we dropped off the cantaloupe. They were very appreciative for the fresh produce. The week kept getting better. Terry Stehr, FSA Director, arranged for his staff and husbands, and the help of Dennis DiOrio, NRCS District Conservationist, to glean a 1 acre sweet corn field after work Tuesday evening. Not knowing exactly how much they were going to pick, but that it needed to be distributed first thing Wednesday morning, was a bit of a challenge. However, when I stated it was fresh sweet corn, I had a lot of takers. I had arranged for Terry and his staff to deliver the sweet corn to 4 different locations. Knowing that NRCS was way behind, I contacted two of our large producers that grow numerous fruits and vegetables. I explained the Food Drive and the effort that the staff at the Ag Ceter has put into the cause. Both producers were very willing to donate some items. I informed them that since I would be delivering directly to a Soup Kitchen that would be preparing the food on Friday, that seconds would be accepted. I arrived Friday morning at the first farm and received quite a few items. I then traveled to the second farm and loaded the remaining space on the back of the truck, plus filled the cab of my F-250. Depressed that I did not have any more room, the producer informed me that he would be willing to support a cause like this at any time and I should keep him in mind. With a truck loaded with 1,200 pounds of fresh produced I headed for the Ag Center. As I had expected, I was greeted with another employees truck filled with 1,400 pounds of potatoes, fresh produce and can goods. By 8 am Friday morning we had collected 4,825 pounds of food. Trying to follow the lead of the national office, employees of the Ag Center tried to make a sculpture out of the can goods that were received. However, there was no time to waste, the delivery needed to be made ASAP because there was a food pantry and soup kitchens waiting for our arrival. The employees that were in the office that day joined at the truck for a quick picture and we were off!
By mid afternoon on Friday I was getting numerous phone calls and e-mails asking which agency won the food drive contest. After adding everything up our office building had donated 7,572.3 pounds of food over the last five weeks. The agency taking the lead and winning the contest was the Conservation District with a final total of 2,814.6 pounds. However, no agency was left in the dust. It was the cooperation and friendly competition that went on that made this food drive a great success!
Having the opportunity to put this food drive together gave me the chance to experience some things that will not soon be forgotten. The relationships that you make with the individuals that work on a daily basis to organize and put together these food pantries and soup kitchens are just amazing! They are all incredible people with a passion to serve others. Schuylkill County is blessed to have the Schuylkill Community Action, numerous food pantries, and soup kitchens to help those in times of need. I hope those reading this will be inspired to check out the food pantries and soup kitchens in your area. It seems I never found anyone who couldn’t use our donations. Relying on donations is what keeps these things alive and doing well. Although the competition is over, I know the Ag Center efforts will not stop here. I have already received numerous questions about setting something up for Thanksgiving or Christmas. As the Ag center is always striving for the best and looking for improvements, I’m sure the next drive will be even better than the last!