Midtown Motors food drive helps stock local soup kitchen
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A local food drive is helping provide meals and groceries to families in need while stocking the shelves of a community soup kitchen.
Midtown Motors collected about 1,200 pounds of non-perishable food throughout September as part of its annual food drive. The business has held the drive for the past two years, with employees and community members able to drop off donations at the dealership.
Jake Ruttenbur, business manager at Midtown Motors, said a truck was parked in front of the dealership throughout the month to collect donations.
The donations included large quantities of rice and pasta, canned vegetables, green beans and other non-perishable items.
Ruttenbur said the goal of the food drive is to help local families who may be struggling to put food on the table.
"We really want to help the families in need around here," he said. "I know there's a lot of need in our community, and this is to help everybody around town."
For Ruttenbur, helping others is especially important in a small community.
"You always have to help your neighbors," he said.
The food collected by Midtown Motors was donated to the St. Joseph soup kitchen on Tuesday, where volunteers will distribute groceries and use some of the items to prepare meals.
Soup kitchen volunteer Pat Bailey said the kitchen typically serves about 70 people. They are also able to distribute donated food items to people who come to the soup kitchen.
Bailey said donations such as fruits, vegetables, canned goods and soup can be particularly useful because some of those items can be incorporated into meals prepared at the kitchen.
Other items, including cereal, can be distributed directly to families.
"We're serving anyone that wants to come and have meals," Bailey said. "We're serving the community by feeding them."
Bailey said the soup kitchen has a core group of volunteers who help keep the operation running.
The donations from the food drive will help supplement the soup kitchen's supplies while providing additional food to people in the community.
For the second consecutive year, Midtown Motors' food drive demonstrates how local businesses, volunteers and residents can work together to address food insecurity and support their neighbors.