The Decorah Police Department is hosting its first food drive, “Fill the Squad,” at local grocery stores Saturday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. According to Officer Nick Yaneff, DPD’s point of contact for the drive, there is no donation goal set, but instead, the department hopes to bring to light the food insecurity issues in Winneshiek County.
“You might know your neighbor, and they may live in a nice house and everything seems great, but you never know if they are concerned about where their next meal is coming from,” Yaneff lamented. “We want to focus on that – the lack of consistent food everyone needs for a healthy lifestyle.”
According to Yaneff, a police officer and vehicle accepting donations will be at Oneota Coop from 10 to 11 a.m., at Fareway from 11 a.m. to noon, and at Hy-Vee from noon to 1 p.m. Additionally, there will be a second police vehicle and officer at Walmart from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Along with the in-person donation, there are boxes set up this week at each location listed above, and a box at Decorah City Hall. All donations will be given to the Decorah Community Food Pantry.
Donations of non-perishable food items and non-food supplies are welcome, Yaneff said, and monetary donations can be made directly to the Decorah Food Pantry as well.
The Pantry serves northeast Iowa and has distributed more than 200,000 pounds of food to more than 14,000 family members across the area – 50 percent of whom are Winneshiek residents. Of the more than 46,000 residents in northeast Iowa suffering from food insecurity, nearly one-third of them are children and 10 percent are senior citizens.
“We want to make this a great success,” expressed Yaneff. “We definitely need to raise awareness of food insecurity in our community.”
For more information regarding the event, contact the Decorah Police Department at 563-382-3667 or reach out to the Decorah Community Food Pantry at 563-202-0872.
Investigator David Burrett with the Decorah Police Department decorates a box as part of the department’s “Fill the Squad” food drive. Dry goods can be donated this week at boxes like this one, located at Oneota Coop, Fareway, Hy-vee, Walmart, and Decorah City Hall. Burrett’s wife, Carrie Lee third grade teacher Kirsten Burrett, and her class colored the police cars that embellished the boxes. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Denise Lana)
You might know your neighbor, and they may live in a nice house and everything seems great, but you never know if they are concerned about where their next meal is coming from.– Officer Nick Yaneff
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