BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – The food came rolling in recently, as Our Place Drop-in Center almost doubled the amount it collected over last year’s Overflow the Opera House food drive.
“The generous people of this area dropped off 2,238 pounds of food for our pantry,” said Our Place director Dave Billings. “They also donated almost $12,500 in cash that we can use to purchase food.”
With the help of the employees of Chroma Technology and Sonnax, and a design by Charlie Hunter, promotion for this year’s drive included a banner across The Square, T-shirts worn by volunteers, and special bags left at Lisai’s Market to remind shoppers to pick up items to donate. A few Chroma employees also created at Super Mario-themed can-struction for the window at Edward Jones.
Those same employees, plus the Bellows Falls Rotary Club and the Bellows Falls Woman’s Club, also ran on-site food drives that added to the haul and showed up to wave signs in The Square.
Also on hand were Peter “Fish” Case of Peak radio, assisted by Radio Bob, who broadcast throughout the day. The volunteers also appreciated the pizza donated by Athens Pizza, and the anonymous drop-off of coffee and doughnuts on the chilly morning.
“We owe a big thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, or helped in some way, including Jen and her staff at the Opera House,” said Billings. “We now have a good basis to continue our mission of connecting people to food and each other.”
Our Place is located at 4 Island Street, and offers boxes of food to prepare at home, plus breakfast and lunch each weekday. Further information can be found at www.ourplacevermont.org, on Facebook, by contacting info@ourplacevermont.org, or by calling 802-463-2217.