Oskaloosa Public Library’s “Food For Fines” Brings In Hundreds Of Items For Local Food Bank
Food Donations started to really add up as "Food For Fines" came to a close. Librarian Nancy Jones is seen helping to sort donated items.
All during the month of February, the Oskaloosa Public Library collected food items in lieu of fines for overdue materials.
Library Director Wanda Gardner stated that accepting food rather than cash is an opportunity many library users appreciate. “After the holidays, many people have extra cans or boxes of food in the cupboard, or even toiletry items they received as gifts. Each item brought to the library will be credited as $2 toward overdue fines.” Gardner had said during the event. The Library helped to bring in 697 items to help stock the shelves of the Ecumenical Cupboard Food Bank here in Oskaloosa. Gardner said she thought that maybe some materials, that otherwise might not have been returned, did make their way back to the library with the encouragement of donating food in place of a fine.
Ecumenical Cupboard Co-Director Brenda Smith said that on Monday, those items collected during the food drive at the Library had started to go out the door to those in need.
An actual total amount of people that particular donation will help will be difficult to calculate, it is safe to say that a couple hundred families will benefit from the donation. Each family may receive multiple items, from the donated amount, in the care package each takes home from the Cupboard. Monday alone, it helped 10 families with a total of 16 people served.
Food drives such as this one are a huge benefit for food pantries such as the Ecumenical Cupboard, but Smith says the demands for help are increasing.
Another excellent way of helping your local food pantry such as the Ecumenical Cupboard is cash donations. With the resources such as South East Iowa Food Bank available, to places such as the Ecumenical Cupboard, just a few dollars is able to help buy more than one can almost imagine. Smith gave an example of some recent purchases by the Cupboard. 4 cases, with 12 – 2 pound bricks of cheddar cheese each, cost a place like the Ecumenical Cupboard $4.16 for all 48 bricks of cheese. Smith gave another example of the purchasing power available to them. 6 cases of Cheerios, with 10 – 18 ounce boxes per case, cost the pantry $11.76 total for the 60 boxes of cereal. A large portion of the food is being donated by manufacturers to places such as the South East Iowa Food Bank and it is then distributed to the local communities and resources like the Ecumenical Cupboard.
Smith encourages everyone to give in any way they choose to do so. If you want to make a donation, or would like to set up a food drive, you can contact the Ecumenical Cupboard at 641-676-4031 or by email at tec@mahaska.org.
