Canned food drive planned in July

VW Community Club news

School is out, which means school lunch and breakfast program meals are done for the summer. Parents are providing more meals for their family, which is leaving inventories low at food banks in Van Wert County.

The Van Wert Community Club is organizing “Together We Can”, a canned food/non-perishables food drive to benefit local Cooperative Ministries food banks located at First United Methodist Church, Trinity Friends, The Salvation Army, and in Convoy and Ohio City. Any clubs, church groups, businesses, or individuals who want to help out the community are invited to participate in a countywide scavenger hunt on Sunday, July 28, from 2-4 p.m.

There is no fee to participate, participants do not have to preregister, and collection can begin now.  Scavenger teams will start at either the Commercial Building at the Van Wert Fairgrounds, the Ohio City Village Hall or the Convoy Municipal Building. The food banks have supplied a list of needed items, which have all been assigned a point value. The day of the hunt, scavenger teams will be assigned an area of the county from which they may collect as many items as possible. The team with the highest score will then be awarded a prize. Details can be found online at www.vwcclub.org.

Those who do not want to participate in the scavenger hunt, or are unable to, can still participate in the food drive. Collect items ahead of time and simply drop them off, along with a tally sheet, between 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at the Commercial Building.

Collection bins will also be placed in participating grocery stores starting July 1 to help raise awareness of the event and the need for donations. Area residents are invited to donate as they do their weekly shopping.

The food drive is a great way to work together for the benefit of the community. It’s neighbors helping neighbors and the great feeling of helping those less fortunate. For additional information, visit the Community Club website at vwcclub.org or call 419.238.2014.