If you’ve been overstocking with BOGO deals, now’s a good time to share. The Stuff the Truck food drive at Good Shepherd Catholic Church is gearing up for its July 14-16 event.
The goal is to stuff a U-Haul box truck with 200 or more boxes of nonperishable food and personal hygiene items to help the food program at the nonprofit Good News Outreach.
Summer can be a tough time for the food insecure. School kids lose access to free meals. Visitors who donate head north for cooler weather. Locals go on vacation.
Here are the details on this year’s event
- Stuff the Truck is an annual July food drive supported by the parishioners of Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 4665 Thomasville Road.
- Anyone can donate. One does not need to be a member or to attend services at Good Shepherd to help their neighbors.
- Drop off hours are Friday, July 14, from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., Saturday, July 15, from 9 – 11 a.m. and 4:30 – 7 p.m. or Sunday, July 16, from 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. Please drop off items in the Community Center. The church is at 4665 Thomasville Road. Checks may be written & sent to: Good News Outreach, Inc. P.O. Box 3304 Tallahassee, FL 32315-3304. Visit goodshepherdparish.org.
- Donations of nonperishable food should be in unbreakable containers and still be within in their best-use-by or sell-by dates.
Examples of items suitable for donation:
Canned goods such as: Fruit, meat, vegetables, spaghetti sauce, soup, tuna fish
Boxed goods such as: Pasta, macaroni & cheese, cereal/oatmeal, instant potatoes/grits, stuffing, cake/bread mixes
Plastic containers such as: Peanut butter, jelly, cooking oil, salad dressing, condiments, coffee, juices, adult nutritional drinks such as Ensure
Personal hygiene items such as: Toothpaste, dental floss, shampoo, soap, feminine hygiene, toilet paper, paper towels
Clothing: Gently used, clean clothing also is accepted.
Volunteers can sign up at Good Shepherd: Stuff the Truck (signupgenius.com) The drive is organized by the church’s Mercy and Justice Core Community. Suzanne Printy, chair of the core community, coordinates the planning for the drive. Volunteers from other parish ministries pitch in to help collect and pack food and load the truck.
The truck has about 800 cubic feet of space to store food. Food is delivered to Good News Outreach Monday morning after the truck is stuffed.