Press Releases
State Housing Authority Employees Give Early Christmas "Harvest" to Food Bank - 7/18/2003
For the fifth year in a row, employees of the South Carolina State Housing Authority held a “Christmas in July” food drive to help stock the Emergency Food Pantry of Harvest Hope Food Bank. The food drive surpassed the previous year’s total when Food Bank employees collected the donated goods, which weighed in at 1,119 pounds. “Our agency may be small (around 120 employees), but our staff members have very big hearts,” said Don Hinson, the Authority’s executive director. “I’ve always been proud of the charitable efforts we’ve held here. I think our staff members see this as a natural extension of their work.”
The benefit for Harvest Hope was conceived five years ago when State Housing employees were researching charities for the agency to sponsor during the holidays. They discovered that the Food Bank’s Emergency Food Pantry is overtaxed and faces severe food shortages during the summer season. “Typically donations are down during the summer months,” said Brittany Howell, public information director at Harvest Hope. “People are planning vacations and are busy with family activities and you don’t really think of having food drives until closer to Thanksgiving,” she continued. “But unfortunately, people get hungry all during the year and we always have an increased need for our emergency food program at this time of year.” Howell said the Emergency Food Pantry served 36,649 individuals and families last year.
No arms had to be twisted. Employees rallied for “Christmas in July.” For the first three weeks of this month food collection containers were placed in the 3-story building and it’s homeownership division, two blocks away. Non-perishable food items were collected while decorations in the main lobby proclaimed Christmas with a decided summer theme. “Christmas in July” posters listed the items Harvest Hope needs most, such as canned foods, dried beans, rice, grits, pasta, and dry milk. Food Bank officials were thrilled with the new State Housing record.
Brittany Howell said the increased demand for emergency food supplies could be related to children (who might be enrolled in meal programs at school) being at home during this time of year, as well as the fact that food simply doesn’t keep as well in the heat. “Preparing extra meals and not being able to save a lot of leftovers can definitely put a strain on a food budget that’s already tight,” she said. “We’re grateful to the State Housing Authority and its employees who come up with such inventive and fun ways to help us out.”
For more information on Harvest Hope Food Bank, or to help the Emergency Food Pantry program, call 254-4432. For more information on the State Housing Authority, visit its website: www.sha.state.sc.us.
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