EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
More than 40 million Americans live with food insecurity, yet
the United States
produces more than enough food to feed every American at risk of hunger many
times over.
So, on Saturday, November 10, Old North United Methodist
Church and Central United Methodist
Church are teaming up to host a Society of St. Andrew "Potato Drop" in the
parking lot of Central United Methodist Church.
The Society of St. Andrew is donating a tractor-trailer load of
approximately 42,000 pounds of perfectly good potatoes that are commercially
unmarketable due to size or slight blemishes.
Volunteers from both churches will unloading the bags for
distribution to local food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, food pantries and
other agencies that help feed the hungry.
Local families in need of food may also stop by starting
at 9:30 a.m. until the supply is depleted to pick up free bags of potatoes.
This will
be the third year in a row that this event has taken place, and has resulted in
over 84,000 pounds of potatoes distributed to the Tri-State.
The Society of St. Andrew, a faith-based, ecumenical,
nonprofit organization, effectively tackles this two-pronged problem through
its Gleaning Network and Potato & Produce Project programs,
which salvage fresh produce that will otherwise be wasted and donates it to
feed hungry Americans. The Society of St. Andrew, a grassroots hunger-relief
organization founded in Virginia 33 years ago, is one of the nation's largest
nonprofit suppliers of fresh produce to the hungry.
An independent audit has established the Society of St. Andrew's overhead for
administration and fundraising at just 4.4%, which is among the lowest of all
nonprofit organizations. This means that nearly 96¢ of every dollar donated to
the Society of St. Andrew goes directly to feeding the hungry.
Central United Methodist is located at 300 Mary Street in Evansville.
For more information about the
Evansville Potato Drop, or to make a donation toward the transportation and
packaging costs that range from $3,500 to $4,500 per truckload, please send an
e-mail to evansvillepotatodrop@gmail.com.
For more information about the
Society of St. Andrew and its hunger relief programs call 800-333-4597, e-mail sosainfo@endhunger.org, or go online
to www.endhunger.org.
