Eight local organizations worked together to hold a food drive that gathered $440 and 3,356 food items for the Hillsboro Food Pantry.
The groups that sponsored the Hillsboro Food Pantry Community Food Drive included the Twin City Area Optimist Club, Hillsboro Lions Club, Hillsboro Title Co., Greater Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce, Hillsboro Community Civic Center, Southern Gateway Association of Realtors, Mapaville Fire Protection District and Hillsboro Fire Protection District.
Most of the cash and food was collected Jan. 30 during a drive-thru donation event held at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro, but some businesses collected items prior to that event, and some people donated items afterward.
Janice Boyd, a Twin City Area Optimist Club board member, said she was impressed people came out to donate on what turned out to be a wet, miserable Saturday.
“It was a drive-thru event from noon to 1 p.m. at the Hillsboro Food Pantry, which is at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds,” Boyd said. “(All of the participating entities) worked at the event and collected leading up to the event.
“It was a really rainy day. Everybody worked through the rain. We really had a goal in mind of 1,000 items, so we were pleased with what we got.”
Boyd said the Twin City Area Optimist Club also has helped organize prior food drives for the Ozark Food Pantry in Festus and the De Soto Food Pantry.
Jeanie Schultz, a board member and secretary-treasurer for the Hillsboro Food Pantry, said the organization appreciated the effort.
“It definitely will enable our canned goods to last longer throughout the year,” she said. “It was very helpful. We not only got canned goods, but boxed items like potatoes, rice and Hamburger Helper. We often fall behind in those sorts of things.
“Our community has been very generous both monetarily and with donating items.”
The Hillsboro Food Pantry serves clients in the Hillsboro R-3, Grandview R-2 and De Soto school districts, she said.
“We give out food once a week,” Schultz said. “Our building has been closed to the public since March because of the pandemic. It’s all drive-thru. We help an average of 100 families a week.”