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Guest Column

Thanks to all who make countywide food drive a success

By Debbie Lattin
Published October 18, 2006

Instead of doing our countywide food drive on the nationally designated Make A Difference Day this year, we changed the date for two reasons. Let me tell you those reasons.

The need to replenish the shelves of our social service agencies that feed our poor and hungry was paramount. Ask any executive director of any of these agencies: Annie Johnson Center, Citrus United Basket, Daystar, Family Resource Center or Salvation Army, and they'll tell you they are feeding anywhere from 10 to 20 new families per month.

Ask any director of food pantries of our local churches and they'll tell you they see the same number of new faces, too.

Why this surge in the demand for food? There are many reasons. The price of gasoline and the need for transportation to and from work has taken a higher priority in the weekly budget than food. The price of home ownership/shelter and all that includes (insurance, rent, mortgage payments) has taken a higher priority in the weekly budget than food.

And finally, the cost to heat or cool a home has taken a higher priority in the weekly budget than food. This could have been included under "home ownership," but oftentimes, the cost of this is as much as your rent or mortgage payment.

We felt it needed to be stated separately. People will go without food so they can keep transportation and shelter. Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

The primary election is behind us. Do you recall all the mailings you received daily from all the candidates? Do you remember an increase in those mailings the weekend before Election Day? Your board members of Citrus County Harvest remember.

For this reason, we requested a change for the sake of all of our post office employees who not only deliver mail on this "food drive" day but also pick up our food.

The amount of political mailings that go out the weekend before a general election is enormous. We are very sensitive to the workload of these employees this day. Having the primary behind them and the general election weeks away, we felt this would be an appropriate thing to do.

We made a good decision. The mail delivery in most post offices Sept. 23 was significantly lighter than it will be Oct. 28. Most mail carriers were in early from their routes, even picking up our food.

Our first report total at the end of the day Sept. 23 was more than 32,000 pounds, falling short of our total last year. As always, though, people forget to put food out and when they realize they have forgotten the day/date, they put it out for their mail carriers on the Monday following the food drive day.

Our grand total for this year is 34,077 pounds. Since we started this food drive in 1999, we have gone from a beginning total of 15,000 pounds to a high of 43,000 pounds in 2000 and 2003.

This success story would not be if not for the efforts of our local post office employees. They work the hardest on this day and we are ever so sensitive to make sure we do all we can to make it easy for them.

Our thanks to Embarq employees who have supplied volunteers to us since we started this food drive in 1999. The job this day could not be completed without the help of volunteers at each recipient agency. They are on site to unload our vehicles and sort the food.

Thank you also to the news media, the St. Petersburg Times and Citrus County Chronicle, and to our printer, Advantage Direct Mail Marketing. The roles you play are indispensable.

Finally, your Harvest board members have forged a strong relationship with all the folks we have worked with over the past seven years while participating in this food drive and we acknowledge our Citrus County citizens' generosity in their charitable giving.

Our food pantries went from empty to full because of you.

It is our pleasure, your board members of Citrus County Harvest, to work with you folks within this community to serve our most vulnerable citizens. Thank you.

[Last modified October 18, 2006, 06:32:40]