Legion To Collect For Those In Need

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The American Legion in Oskaloosa is hosting a drive to help veterans that are food insecure.

American Legion member Darrin Alderson sat down with Oskaloosa News to talk about the food drive and how you can participate.

As one of the programs we do is community service. So, in conjunction with the Pella post, Dave Robinson, and the Pella Go Ruck, and he’s also a member of the American Legion at the Pella post, is helping us do a food drive, but it’s not a typical food drive is what we call a go ruck style.

So we’re going to do, we’re going to gather food from now until November 7th. And on November 7th, we will get our backpacks loaded up. And there’s five drop zones in the city that we’re going to walk out to with their backpacks, fill them up, and then bring the food back is part of a go-ruck-style food drive. It kind of mimics the military-style movements that we used to do back when we were a lot younger. So that’s the idea. It’s just kind of a fun and different way to raise food for the Ecumenical Cupboard. And we’re we’re also taking cash donations because there are a couple restaurants here in town that have said that they will provide meals to veterans that are not able to provide for themselves.

So that’s the idea behind it and it’s with Brad Robins and what his idea is is to get three style food drives going in different communities at different times a year. He’s working with the Knoxville post to do one on the spring around Memorial Day. And Pella does theirs on July 4th. And then we’re going to do ours on Veterans Day. Except this time we’ll do on the Saturday before to increase participation so.

So one of the places they can drop off is at the post there in the canteen, we have a box set up. First Christian Reformed Church, Southern Iowa Fairgrounds right next to the plastic bag recycling. Edmundson Golf Course and Wood Iron Grille also has a drop zone. The cash we would prefer you bring up to the post, that way we can keep it locked up and accounted for. The non-perishable items will take at dropboxes.

So on Veterans Day, we’re going to announce how many pounds of food that we raised for a community and how much cash and how many we’ll talk about how many people that we were able to serve and then after the ruck, will have a free will donation meal provided by our auxilary group.

So another program that our post is participating in is called 100 Days for Hope. The Legion Riders took off last weekend on a 100-mile motorcycle ride. And for every member that participates, we donate $30 to the national emergency fund.
Yep. And it’s also a way for veterans to serve our community. We’re much more than a place where we go and hang out and drink. The American Legion does so much more than that. And this is just one of the many programs that we do. Veterans Day will be a lot smaller ceremony than what has in the years past just because of the COVID-19. Right now that Veterans Day Program will take place on the square. And we’ll use a flag from the courthouse and that’s how we’ll present it.