If you’re looking for a way to spread cheer this Holiday Season, a great place to start is our annual Holiday Food & Fund Drive. You can help stock the shelves of Utah Food Bank and emergency food pantries statewide through the holidays and into the spring months. There are a multitude of ways to give back through Utah Food Bank, and whether it’s food, time, or money, your gift will truly impact the lives of our neighbors in need. Just like someone’s gift did for one of our staff members when they were a child.
I still remember the year Santa came to visit us in a small town in Missouri on Christmas Eve. I didn’t see him, but I saw the red Volkswagen Beetle he drove away in. I was seven years old and had started to realize that maybe our Christmas wasn’t going to be very magical. My parents did their best. We had a tree, and we sang Christmas songs. But we were poor, and while I didn’t have the words for it at the time, food insecure. My parents had made it clear it was unlikely Santa would make it to our house. But here he had come early! There on our doorstep was a black velvet bag with personalized gifts, and just as exciting, boxes full of food! A full Christmas dinner with all the fixings, and enough cans and boxes and fresh food for our family of six for several weeks.
Someone saw our need and filled it.
My mom later told me how much that kindness meant to her. How all they had left in the house for us to eat was a few cans of green beans, a loaf of bread, and half a jar of peanut butter. They were already stretched thin with paying bills and providing the necessities when our car broke down the month before and had to be fixed – no car would have meant no transportation for work.
The generosity of others put the magic back in the Holiday season for my family.
When you give to the Utah Food Bank, you can help do the same for the 511,000 of our neighbors here in Utah, including 1 in 5 children, who are currently feeling the pain and fear of not always having access to enough food. The pandemic has robbed many of the security they had, and a lot of people need help for the first time. By Fighting Hunger Statewide, we can lighten the load and brighten the holiday season. Together, we can bring back some of that magic.
Many thanks to the Holiday Food & Fund Drive sponsors 107.3/94.9 New Country 12 in a Row, Chevron Refinery, Harmons, Riverton Chevrolet, and Wells Fargo.
