VINTON — The volunteers at Benton County Food Pantry in Vinton have had a busy week unloading and organizing over 2,000 pounds of recently donated non-perishable food items.
The biggest chunk came from the second and third grade classes at Tilford Elementary, who together collected 1,697 food items, which weighed in at 1,845 pounds. The two grades had a competition to see who could bring the most non-perishable food items to donate to the pantry.
According to a Facebook post by VSCSD, this “incredible food drive challenge” was part of the school’s monthly PBIS topic: Service Projects. “We’re so proud of their teamwork, generosity, and dedication to making a difference in our community. Way to go, 2nd and 3rd graders,” VSCSD said.
For the third year in a row, a side by side ride at Shady Acres, organized by Maggie Dvorak, also collected food items for the pantry. This year they beat their own record with 328 pounds of food donated.
Judy Neal from the Benton County Food Bank said that she and the rest of the volunteers are very grateful for the support.
“Benton County Pantry in Vinton would like to shout out a big THANK YOU to Maggie and Devin for donation of food and etc. from their side by side ride and 2nd and 3rd graders at Tilford Elementary School for their donations of food, etc. We could not help our neighbors without everyone’s donations and help,” Neal said.