4×4 club hits the road seeking Pantry donations
Dan Allemand and his daughter Danielle delivered over a thousand
pounds of food to the Community Pantry Monday as part of the
Nor-Cal Big Dawgs 4×4 club ‘Drive Out Hunger’ food drive.
4×4 club hits the road seeking Pantry donations
Dan Allemand and his daughter Danielle delivered over a thousand pounds of food to the Community Pantry Monday as part of the Nor-Cal Big Dawgs 4×4 club ‘Drive Out Hunger’ food drive.
It was a driving club’s food drive, and the delivery capped a weekend of driving for the Allemands, who toured the state collecting money and buying groceries. They got $280 from members of national 4×4 groups, in one-dollar increments over the Internet; and $125 from a woman in Sacramento.
“A lot of us are very fortunate because we can afford our four wheel drives, our toys, and there are a lot of people a lot less fortunate, and we just wanted to help out,” said Allemand after emptying his truck bed of groceries. Pantry workers immediately began sorting out the packages of Ramen, the bags of Oreos, which Danielle threw in, and the box of canned hams, which are considered gold to the non-profit food bank.
“This is really good, we can save some of this for the spring,” said executive director Tom Larkin, who appreciates the holiday giving but must be prepared for the whole year. “Everybody loves to be charitable at the holidays, but we feed people 52 weeks a year.”
According to Larkin, the pantry has received about 30,000 pounds of donations so far this holiday season. However, the need has increased.
“Last year, on average, we gave away 566 bags a week,” said Larkin. “This year its 780 bags.”
