On March 20, the Eagle/Garden City Rotary Club held a food drive at the Garden City Fred Meyer store to benefit the St. Vincent de Paul Southwest Idaho mobile food pantry program. Despite it being a chilly day, it was a success!These mobile food pantries complement the five existing food pantries operating in Boise, Nampa, Meridian, Caldwell and Mountain Home. They serve various communities determined to be in the greatest need. Dates, times and locations of these pantries vary, and current details are always available on the organization’s website. The pantries are open to anyone, regardless of where they live, and are particularly beneficial to those who do not have access to readily available transportation.
Through the efforts of 18 big-hearted Rotarians, family and friends, on a sunny but chilly spring day, we collected approximately 1,850 pounds of donated food, as well as significant cash donations. One donor chatted with us on his way into the store and came out with the several bags of items from our wish list. He said he had "been there, done that" and was happy to pay it forward.Another couple of contributors drove home to bring back full carts' worth of groceries! One of these contributors said that he picks up sale items and saves them for occasions like this food drive or for family and neighbors in need.
According to Ralph May, executive director for St. Vincent de Paul Southwest Idaho, the value of the groceries and donations collected that day exceeded $2,200.
We are particularly grateful to the team at Fred Meyer for their enthusiastic support of our efforts and generous product donations. Fred Meyer clearly embraces the spirit of community support and the value of everyone working together.
These types of community service are the reason we join Rotary and on which our organization was founded over 100 years ago. The Eagle/Garden City Rotary Club meets every Thursday at the River Club, and we invite everyone to join us for a meeting and see whether this is the kind of service-oriented activity that is right for you.
Thanks again to all who participated in this great effort.