Lakeland Christian Academy will hold its sixth annual community-wide Food Drive at the end of September. The food drive will benefit Combined Community Services.

Peggi Lisenbee Wright, Combined Community Service’s director of emergency assistance stated, “Hunger and lack of access to nutritional food is growing at an alarming rate across our country. CCS’ emergency assistance program has been struggling to meet the ever growing need for food. The students and staff from LCA display such Christ-like attitudes through their joy in giving and hard work in serving. They not only collect the food but deliver, sort and stack the overflow in storage. The LCA food drive has become an annual event that not only supplies CCS with a full pantry but also uplifts and encourages our staff and volunteers through LCA’s joy and compassion.”

Bill Leslie, CCS’ food bank coordinator stated, “We would love to have more healthy and gluten-free foods. Now that we are a client-choice pantry, we seem to go through food more quickly. We are having more and more people come in…we had 60 families come in for food on just one day last week. This food drive is an answer to prayer because our shelves are kinda bare right now.”

“We are excited to again partner with CCS and our generous community”, said Carmen Flores, food drive coordinator. “Last spring we collected over 11,000 pounds of food in just one day of collections. The community has been so supportive of this food drive and we can’t do it without the help of local residents.”

Monday, Sept. 30, all LCA students, faculty, and staff will leave brightly colored fliers and paper sacks with information about the food drive on door steps throughout the community.

The students will return to these same homes after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, to collect the non-perishable food items. Residents may place food items in boxes or the bags and leave them at the end of their driveway or in a visible place. If a home is missed, please call 574-267-7265 and someone will come out and pick up the donation. As an added service you also may place your CCS Coat Drive donations along with your food and all will be picked up and delivered to CCS.

After all the food is collected, it will be delivered and sorted on the CCS lawn, stocked in the client-choice food pantry, and the excess carried to their storage area. Suggested non-perishable food items include peanut butter, jelly, mac & cheese, canned tuna in water, canned chicken in water, oatmeal, cereal, spaghetti sauce, noodles, ramen noodles, baking mixes, healthy foods and gluten free products.

A list of the neighborhoods LCA will be visiting on the food drive will be provided at a later date.

Please call Lakeland Christian Academy at 574-267-7265 with questions or for additional information about the food drive.