GREENFIELD — Greenfield Fire Chief Brian Lott hopes to be worn out by the time he goes to bed on Saturday, Sept. 24.
He plans to spend the day loading box loads of canned goods into the back of a semi trailer for the annual Fill a Truck, Fill a Pantry food drive hosted by the Rotary Club of Greenfield. The more boxes the better, he said.
The public is encouraged to drop off non-perishable food items at the trailer parked on the north end of the Greenfield Walmart parking lot, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. that day.
The food will then be distributed to four agencies throughout Hancock County: the Fortville Area Resource Mission (FARM); Hancock County Food Pantry; Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen; and the food pantry at Shirley-Wilkinson United Methodist Church.
“This food drive comes at a wonderful time for our pantry,” said Liz Rasche, a longtime board member for the Hancock County Food Pantry. “Our client numbers have increased throughout the summer and our food donations have dwindled recently, so this event will help to restock our shelves.”
Lott, a longtime Rotarian, said a few adjustments have been made to make this year’s drive more successful than ever before.
For starters, it was moved up a few weeks to avoid falling over any of the Hancock County schools’ fall breaks.
Rotarians have reached out to local businesses like Precoat Metals, Hitachi Astemo and Avery Dennison whose employees are making food and monetary donations.
The food drive has also been moved back to the Walmart parking lot after being held at Greenfield Christian Church last year.
“That way it’s easy for people to go in the store and pick up a few things and stop by to donate them,” said Lott.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the annual memorial blood drive, honoring Riley Settergren, which is held each year in conjunction with the Fill a Truck event. The blood drive will take place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day near the food collection site.
Walmart store manager Bruce Culbreth said he’s happy to devote space for a food drive and blood drive that helps so many.
“Greenfield is an amazing city. The people here have always been great to us, so we strive every day to do what we can to give back to the community,” he said.
Both he and Lott hope this year’s food drive makes a huge impact on local hunger.
“The statistics show that one out of every nine adults and one out of every seven children are dealing with food scarcity,” said Lott. “Anything anyone can do to support the food drive this year would be greatly appreciated.”
The four agencies who benefit from the Rotary Club’s annual food drive work diligently year-round to help feed the county’s undernourished, he said.
“The FARM group alone serves 250 families each week,” said Lott.
He expressed gratitude to Walmart and the City of Greenfield for helping to block off traffic in the Walmart parking during the food drive, and to the Greenfield Sertomas for donating $350 to go toward purchasing Red Gold tomato products each year.
Lott hopes a record number of people stop by to drop off food Saturday, but he’s just as happy with those who choose to donate from the comfort of their homes. Monetary donations can be made via the Venmo app to @greenfieldrotary.
To schedule a blood drive appointment, visit versiti.org/IN.