Food Finders Food Bank is kicking off its fall campaign.
Organizers say they need the community’s support now through November 30th when the food drive ends.
Executive Director Katy Bunder says the goal is to collect 150,000 meals in that time.
“This will be an opportunity for us to gather in a lot of canned and boxed food that hopefully will last us through at least some of the winter," she said. "We are really looking forward to seeing our shelves get full of canned and boxed food.”
There are signs Food Finders’ efforts are working.
Bunder says the percentage of Tippecanoe County residents who are food insecure dropped from 17% last year to 15.5% now.
"When the unemployment rate was nine-percent, then the number of food secure people was really high, and remained high for awhile after the (economy's) improvement. So, I think what we are finally seeing is that some improvement has caught up." said Bunder.
"We have seen that, even in the hardest times, donations have been steady. I think maybe (community members) steps up their efforts when they know times are really hard."
However, about 21% of children in the county is living without enough food daily.
Volunteer Coordinator Amy Gaulke says this year the group is using competition to spur participation.
"We are going to be hosting a competition this year between business, church, and schools who raises the most food," she said. "The business and church who raise the most food will receive a trophy to take home for their efforts. And, the school who raises the most food per enrolled student will receive the Drive Away Hunger traveling trophy, which we call the Take the Wheel Trophy."
