An effort to help feed the needy this summer is themed “Hunger doesn’t take a vacation.”
Employees of Waste Control Inc., the local waste hauler, are asking Longview and Kelso customers to put out bags of nonperishable foods and toiletries next to garbage and recycle bins.
During the second weeks of July, August and September, Waste Control managers will follow collection trucks on their Longview and Kelso routes and pick up any bags of food that people leave next to their bins.
The food collection weeks will be July 8-12; Aug. 12-16; and Sept. 9-13.
Lower Columbia CAP’s Help Warehouse will receive the collected food and distribute it to Longview and Kelso food banks.
“Summer and early fall are our leanest months,” Lois Shelton, Help Warehouse program manager, said in a prepared statement. “There are a number of food drives happening during the rest of the year, by schools and businesses and churches, but summer gets quiet even though the need for food does not go away.”
Shelton said preferred items are dry and canned goods, nonperishable food, infant formula and toiletries such as toothpaste, toilet paper, and diapers.
Help Warehouse cannot distribute home-canned goods, fresh meat, or bulk foods in plastic bags.
