Dec. 27. The organizer of this month’s Manna for Life food distribution at the Neighborhood CARE Center says more families than ever were served.
Kay Fisher
“We served 90 families, 292 individuals, 2,628 meals at a retail value of $9,618,” says Kay Fisher, center board member and program organizer.
The CARE Center did not purchase items for this event; all were donated, she said. “At the end of the event, the food was gone and a few other families arrived,” Fisher said. “A lady pulled up and gave us a number of gift cards that were used to help feed the last few families. God is good.”
Need is growing
Non-perishable goods in any amount can be dropped off at the center, 19711 Smith Circle, Cornelius, for its Manna for Life program during which food is distributed on the second Saturday of the month.
The next food drive is Jan. 14.
The food distribution in October served the highest number it ever had.
Usually, around 50 to 60 families attend. In October, 72 families in the community sought assistance, said Manny Rosado Jr., who leads the center. They ran out of food.
Fisher said the expectation was that about 80 families would attend this month; 90 showed up for food assistance.
How the December Drive came together
Fisher, as the food drive sponsor, made food collection a neighborhood event for the Jetton Cove neighborhood.
“We ended up with three adults and six kids door knocking 300 homes to collect 60 bags of food,” she said, “as well as financial donations and food drop-offs at the CARE Center.”
Fisher also wanted to tap into the under-used teenagers who need community service hours for school or clubs.
And she posted on social media.
“The best part is how one mom, Liz Feinberg, reached out to me after seeing my post on Nextdoor because her teenage son needed community service hours and thought working a few hours with the food drive could be a start,” Fisher said.
Fisher said when Alexander “Xander” Bowen, a Hough High senior baseball player, came to help sort food collected in Jetton Cove, she knew Xander could be the perfect partner to test the process in another neighborhood.
Xander lives on Meta Road and knocked on the doors of 250 homes in The Peninsula, she said, “and had amazing results in food and financial donations.”
