MENTOR -- As part of the 2014 Feed Lake County Campaign, United Way of Lake County distributed 648 hams Tuesday morning to more than 50 food pantries across the county, according to United Way.
The hams will then be distributed to families in need in time for Easter.
The need for food in Lake County continues to grow as 2-1-1 reported 8,342 calls for food in 2013, which was an increase from 5,246 calls for food in 2012, according to United Way.
The hams were purchased at and delivered by Giant Eagle to United Way of Lake County's Mentor office.
From there, volunteers from Teen Challenge distributed the hams to the food pantries as they came to pick them up.
The 2014 Feed Lake County goal is to raise 40,000 pounds of food and $40,000 in cash and is looking for more help from local businesses and individuals as the latest campaign numbers are down.
So far, more than 60 companies, schools and organizations have signed up to run food drives to help Feed Lake County.
How can YOU help?
- Organize a food drive at your company or organization and then donate the food items and money collected to United Way of Lake County. For more information, contact Gayle Sikula at 440.639.1082 or Gsikula@uwlc.org
- Make a monetary or food donation to United Way of Lake County and send to 9285 Progress Parkway, Mentor, Ohio
- Volunteer. Those interested in helping sort food items can contact Rich Thiedemann at rthiedemann@business-right.com.
All food items collected during Feed Lake County will be distributed to more than 50 food pantries at the end of April. The money collected during Feed Lake County will be used to make food purchases throughout 2014 to help restock food pantries later in the year.
