2009 Canned Food Drive Update

Throughout the month of November, the Boone family organized their annual combined canned food drive called “Give Thanks Give Food” to benefit both the St. Giles Presbyterian and Union County Loaves and Fishes pantry. During this time, five organizations contributed to the overall efforts of this food drive:

South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church (1,455 lbs)

SMPC's Weekday School (844 lbs)

SMPC's Koinonia Kids (681 lbs)
Callonwood Subdivision (2,130 lbs)
Antioch Elementary school (1,000 lbs)

The combined effort provided 6,110 pounds of food for the Loaves and Fishes. (53% increase over the 4,008 pounds donated in 2008). The Boones wish to thank everyone who participated in any way to make this year’s collection a huge success! What an amazing out-pouring of love and support!

Upcoming Food Drive for 2009!

We are currently planning this year's food drive for the month of November and will culminate on Sunday, November 22, 2009. We hope to grow this year's efforts by combining the contributions from the Callonwood Subdivision, South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church, the SMPC Weekday School, Antioch Elementary School and more!

Here are some collection dates to remember:

LOCATION & COLLECTION DATES
SMPC (Nov. 8, 15, & 22)
SMPC WDS (Nov.16-20)
SMPC Koinonia Kids (Nov. 15)
CALLONWOOD (Nov. 22)
ANTIOCH ELEM (Nov. 16-20)

How to Organize a Food Drive

· Select a date, a time and an area in which to collect canned goods. (Weekends and late afternoons/early evenings work best for a food drive, as most people are home. Try collecting on your street for your first attempt at hosting a food drive.)

· Notify your friends and neighbors with posters and/or fliers prior to the date you have chosen. (You can use the sample flier above…just fill in your name, date, time and area for collection.)

· You may choose to distribute paper grocery bags along with your flier so that people may leave their donation of canned goods on their doorstep on the day of the food drive. (This makes it easier for folks to participate and for you to collect the donations. Many grocery stores are willing to donate bags at no cost for this purpose.)

· Invite friends and/or neighbors to help in the collection of the canned goods. Be sure to let them know the time, date and meeting place for the start the food drive allowing for time to gather together and give directions. If you are attempting to collect in a neighborhood, you may wish to print off a map from the internet of the area noting street assignments for your volunteers to use.

· On the date and time of your food drive, take a wagon or drive around to collect the canned goods.

· Contact your local food pantry to find out when they accept food donations. You may wish to schedule a time for your drop off.

· Invite the volunteers who helped with your food drive to participate in the delivery of the food. This is a great opportunity for people of all ages, especially children, to learn the importance of service!

4th Annual Canned Food Drive-11/2/08

Over the course of three weeks during the fall of 2008, the Boone family organized a combined canned food drive to benefit the local Loaves and Fishes pantry. During this time, the members of South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church (1,447 lbs.) and students of the SMPC Weekday School (372 lbs.) generously donated approximately 1,800 total pounds of non-perishable food items (157% increase over the combined 700 pounds donated in 2007). This included food donated by individual members of the congregation and students of the school, as well as children in the Upper Room Sunday school class and families such as the Gaines, Basquins, and Poags who each led efforts in their own respective neighborhoods to collect canned goods.

On Sunday, November 2, the Boones held their 4th Annual Canned Food Drive in the Callonwood subdivision. Thirty-five friends and neighbors helped collect just under 2,200 pounds of food during the event. The combined effort from all three participating groups provided 4,008 pounds of food for the Loaves and Fishes pantry at St. Giles Presbyterian Church (55% increase over the 2,595 pounds donated in 2007).

Again this year, the families who participated in our annual neighborhood food drive went to Mario's Pizza to culminate the event.

The Boones wish to thank everyone who participated in any way to make this year’s collection a huge success including Bob Cushman, Elizabeth Lankford, Charlie Metzler, Erin Ford, Jo Howell, Janice Hopper, the Callonwood Cares Committee, and members of the McAnally, Mitchell, Loftus, Maguire, Snider, Knowles, Robinson, Aquaro, Weber, Gaines, Basquin, Poag, Laxton, Tezzi, Rogers, Malo, and Fuller families. What an amazing out-pouring of support!

3rd Annual Canned Food Drive-11/18/07

Throughout November of 2007, the Boone family organized a combined canned food drive to benefit the local Loaves and Fishes pantry. Over the course of three weeks, the members of South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church and students of the SMPC Weekday School generously donated approximately 700 pounds of non-perishable food items.

On Sunday, November 18, we held our 3rd Annual Canned Food Drive in the Callonwood subdivision. Thirty friends and neighbors helped collect just under 1,900 pounds of food during this neighborhood event. The combined effort provided 2,595 pounds of food (enough for about 2,600 meals) for the Loaves and Fishes pantry at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, whose shelves had been close to bare for the previous two months.

This year, the families who participated in our annual food drive culminated the event by celebrating at Mario's Pizza. We broke bread together, reminised about the collection, and gave thanks to the Lord!

The Boones wish to thank the Weiss, Knowles, Robinson, Batchelor, Hill, McAnally, and Snider families for their help in this year's effort!

2nd Annual Canned Food Drive-12/3/06

On December 3, 2006, the Boone family held our 2nd Annual Canned Food Drive benefitting Loaves and Fishes. Forty-five friends and neighbors gathered to collect food in the Cardinal Woods Subdivision. Our efforts resulted in 526 pounds of food collected and delivered to the Loaves and Fishes food pantry at St. Giles Presbyterian Church. The Boones wish to thank the Snider, Zagora, Amoroso, Price, Finnie, Dellinger, Matthews, Madonia, Stefani, Calland, and Boudrie families for their work in this year's food drive!