September 14th, 2017
With your help, your generosity, your donations, we collected 1,326 lbs. of food for our local food pantries. According to USDA calculations, that’s 1,105 meals! WOW!
From September through November, our Vanway Colleagues were hard at work, spreading the word of our annual Food Drive, picking up donations, collecting at our area Market Baskets, and making sure they were doing everything they could to ensure this drive was our most successful yet.
Early on, our goal was to collect 500 lbs. of food, but through the generosity of our American Training Family, Partners, and community members, we surpassed our goal in October. That’s when our Vanway Director, Robin, decided to kick things up a level and push for more by doubling our goal to 1,000 lbs. with just a few weeks left to collect.
Our Vanway team not only met their goal twice, but exceeded it twice, by collecting over 1,300 lbs. of nonperishable food items! They pushed for more and worked even harder to collect food that will feed those in need in the communities we call home. Now, that’s WOW! Magic!
“I’m so proud of my team because they worked together to accomplish our goal, all for a great cause,” said Robin.
The Food Drive wrapped up on November 5 and our Colleagues spent the last week distributing the food to the Salvation Army, which serves 60 million meals to anyone in need through its many soup kitchens, sit-down meal programs, food pantries, mobile meals and community gardens; Neighbors in Need, which has fed the hungry of Greater Lawrence for 30 years; the Merrimack Valley Food Bank in Lowell, which has been transporting, storing and distributing food to disadvantaged members in many communities across the Commonwealth since 1991; and Bread & Roses, a soup kitchen in Lawrence, that has long been a center of hope and caring to thousands of people in the Merrimack Valley.
After hearing that the Dracut Food Pantry, which provides short and long-term food assistance to Dracut residents in need, has hit an all-time low for donations, we added them to list as well.
“I hope our donations bring smiles to the faces of those who receive them,” said Robin.
Our gratitude goes out to those who donated and helped spread the word; to our Vanway Colleagues who worked hard to make this a success; and to the pantries and kitchens we work with for ensuring our donated items make it into the hands of those in need.
“Thank you on behalf of myself, Vanway, and American Training,” said Robin. “We appreciate your donations because without them we wouldn’t have been able to reach our goal and feed so many.”
You are all a part of our WOW! Magic by making a real difference in our communities and making Every Life Matter!
Check out a few photos from our collections and drop offs below. Learn more about Vanway here.
Thank you for your generous food donations to the Dracut Food Pantry
Much appreciated !
Dave, we appreciate the work you do at the Dracut Food Pantry. Thank you for giving us a tour and showing us how amazing the setup is.