Food drive: Help feed Utah’s hungry

SALT LAKE CITY — On Saturday, churches, organizations and residents throughout Utah will collaborate with Utah Food Bank for the first annual statewide Feed Utah food drive.

Ginette Bott, CEO of the Utah Food Bank, joined Tim and Amanda on “Utah’s Morning News” Friday to answer key questions about the drive.

Join the food drive 

The food drive will help feed an estimated 511,000 Utahns who are facing hunger this year—many for the first time due to economic fallout resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

So how does it work? 

“We’re asking for everyone to participate by simply placing a bag or a box of food on their porch by their mailbox by 9 a.m.,” Bott said. “Tomorrow morning, the plan is that volunteers in your neighborhood will pick that up, take it to a designated location in your neighborhood. And that donation will stay with a pantry in your area, in your city, in your community. So you’re helping folks around you who are struggling with hunger.”

Also, one in five Utah kids are unsure where their next meal will come from, according to Utah Food Bank.

Hungriest year

“You have a larger demand now than you have in past years,” Amanda said.

“We do. This is the biggest year we’ve ever seen at the Food Bank,” Bott said. “This is just such an easy way to be sure we get the kids through the spring, get them through the rest of their school year [and] help the families get back on their feet.”

“So what are the best things to put in the bag?” Amanda asked.

“Anything your family enjoys, another family will,” Bott said. “This is a great opportunity for you to take your kids into your own pantry [and] let them select the items that they like to eat and let them put them in the bag. They can learn a lesson about how to donate. They can learn about hunger.”

“We’ve got over 200 pantries [in Utah]. We’re in all 29 counties. This is a huge endeavor, but we need to have everyone’s help,” Bott said.

In addition to donating food, Utahns can participate in a variety of ways:

• Donate financially to Utah Food Bank’s Feed Utah effort.
• Sign up to volunteer at a food drop-off location
• If your food donation is not picked up at your door, you can take your donation to the nearest drop-off location or click HERE for a list of Salt Lake County sites or HERE for all other counties.
• Ask your congregation to participate or serve as a drop-off location – contact julieac@utahfoodbank.org for more information.
• Click HERE to see a list of participating Associated Food Stores locations.
• Help spread the word on social media – click HERE for our social media toolkit