Please donate to Feed Lake County event

There are many reasons to look forward to the coming of spring in Northeast Ohio: Flowers start to bloom, the Cleveland Indians swing into action for another baseball season and the annual Maple Festival takes place in Chardon.

In case we’ve got you thinking of your favorite things about spring, don’t forget about this seasonal tradition: United Way of Lake County’s annual spring Feed Lake County food drive.

The organization has kicked off its yearly initiative aimed at supporting more than 50 local food pantries that serve Lake County residents in need.

To achieve this goal, UWLC is asking area residents and entities to consider helping in one of three ways:

• Organize a food drive at your company, organization, church or neighborhood and donate the food items and money collected to United Way of Lake County. For more information, contact Jean Sency at 440-639-1286 or jsency@uwlc.org.

As of Feb. 28, 100 companies and organizations had signed up to run food drives to help Feed Lake County, including 21 organizations that have not run food drives in the past.

We’d like to see a record number of companies and groups step up to run food drives for this year’s Feed Lake County program. Participants who get involved will play an important role in helping to feed a substantial number of Lake County residents in need.

According to a UWLC news release, Lifeline’s 2-1-1 information referral helpline received 8,488 calls for food in the last year, a 68 percent increase over the 5,048 calls they received in 2011. Nearly 21,000 — 9.2 percent — of Lake County residents live in poverty, which included 6,142 children and 2,322 senior citizens. A total of 28,410 residents live with food insecurity.

• Submit a monetary donation made out to United Way of Lake County, located at 9285 Progress Parkway in Mentor, or drop off any food donations at this location.

Requested food items include boxed or canned meals like mac and cheese; Tuna Helper; canned tuna and chicken; pasta and sauce; peanut butter and jelly; cereal; canned fruit and vegetables; and canned soup and stew.

Other needed items include baby food and formula, and paper and personal hygiene products such as paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap and deodorant.

Monetary donations also can be made online at www.uwlc.org/give or via a mobile phone by texting the word LAKE to 41444.

“Every $1 donated is enough to provide 4 meals, so if someone is able to make a $25 donation, that is enough to provide 100 meals,” said Jennifer McCarty, CEO and president of UWLC. ”A $50 donation is enough to provide 200 meals. A nominal donation is a great way to make a big impact in the fight against hunger.”

• Eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at one of over 40 participating restaurants on April 20 during UWLC’s Dine to Donate community-wide restaurant fundraiser. A list of all participating restaurants that will donate a portion of their day’s sales to “Feed Lake County” will be posted in the next few weeks at www.uwlc.org.

We like the fact United Way’s Feed Lake County food drive offers people a variety of ways to get involved. If a person or a group wants to take the initiative to conduct an organized food drive, that’s wonderful. But if you’d rather help on an individual basis by donating food or money to the program, that will also be greatly appreciated. And if you enjoy eating out, mark your calendar for April 20 and be sure to patronize a restaurant participating in Dine to Donate. That way, you can support a local business and help contribute to Feed Lake County, all in one visit.

By using this three-pronged approach, United Way of Lake County has achieved impressive results in previous Feed Lake County food drives.

Last year’s drive collected 25,752 pounds of food, $28,147 in donations and $14,219 from its Dine to Donate program, said UWLC Director of Marketing and Communications Tami Lewis.

“The combined total provided enough food for 190,924 meals. This is a cause people really relate to. Due to the support and generosity of our community, we continued to collect food and funds throughout the year and ended up providing our local food pantries with enough food for 208,524 meals in 2016.

“This is an increase of 5,524 meals provided over 2015,” she said. “The hope is to continue to grow the amount of food we put into the community to feed our hungry again this year.”

United Way of Lake County’s Feed Lake County is a worthy program that has delivered proven results and deserves the public’s generous support.