The Department of Food and Nutrition will sponsor the annual “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” food drive April 30, 2011.
The program, in its seventeenth year, is under the direction of graduate student dietetic interns and Food and Nutrition professor Dr. Rita Johnson. It benefits local families through the Indiana County Community Action Program Food Bank.
Both graduate and undergraduate students are working on the food drive as a service learning project. Additional funds for the event were provided by the Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership.
“The food drive is a terrific service-learning experience for the students,” Johnson said. “People in our county are generous and sympathetic to their neighbors' needs. We truly enjoy the partnership with the community and are proud that we have seventeen years of neighbors helping neighbors through this project.
“In the past year, ICCAP has had an increase in the demand for food and now assists 2,100 households each month. More than half of the individuals benefiting from the food pantry are children and older adults.”
In 2010, almost $3,000 in monetary donations and 2,340 pound of food were collected for the food pantry.
Collection Sites
Food and personal care items will be collected from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the following locations:
Indiana/White Township
- Valeski's Fourth Street Bi-Lo
- Wal-Mart
- Giant Eagle
- Big Lots
- Kmart
Homer City
Merck's Bi-Lo
Clymer
Tate's Supermarket
Blairsville/Burrell Township
Wal-Mart
Saltsburg
Shop n' Save
Donations are also being collected by employees of Diamond Medical Supply and in the IUP residence halls.
An additional collection will be held April 30 at the Ackerman Hall loading dock on campus between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Food items in demand include cereal, pasta, rice, canned fruit and vegetables, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, and jelly.