Lakeland Christian Academy is hosting their 9th annual food drive.

WINONA LAKE — Lakeland Christian Academy will hold its ninth annual community-wide Food Drive Sept. 26-28. The food drive will benefit Combined Community Services.

“We are excited to again partner with CCS and our generous community”, says Julie Bauer, food drive coordinator. “Last fall we collected over 13,000 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.”

Peggi Lisenbee Wright, Combined Community Service’s director of emergency assistance, said, “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 says: “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 sixty 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.”

On Monday, Sept. 26, all LCA students, faculty, and staff will leave paper grocery bags with bright pink colored information fliers about the food drive on door steps throughout the community.

The students will then return to these same homes on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 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.  Please leave your food out by 8:00 am.  If a home is missed, please call (574) 267-7265 after 2 p.m. 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 and cheese, canned tuna in water, canned chicken in water, oatmeal, cereal, spaghetti sauce, noodles, ramen noodles, baking mixes, healthy foods, and gluten free products.

Some of the neighborhoods LCA will be visiting on the food drive include:

West Side:

• Lakewood Hills Condos
• Melody Acres
• PondORosa
• Windmill West
• Atlantis
• Shull Addition
• West Main St. & Ft Wayne St.

Southwest Side:

• Shady Crest
• Briarwood Manor
• Summerfield/Blackberry
• The Meadows
• Deerwood Park
• Walnut Creek
• Brookshire

Warsaw South:

• Herscher Addition/Ranch Road
• Eisenhower Park
• Pheasant Ridge
• Tiger’s Retreat
• Park Ridge
• Eagle Crest
• Flagstone Terrace
• Woodfield Estates
• Southwood Addition

Warsaw/Winona Lake South:

• Southbrook Park
• Woodfield Manor
• Country Garden Estates
• Wildwood Addition
• Southtown
• Wooded Hills
• Cherry Creek Manor
• Autumn Ridge
• Stonehenge
• Heritage Lake Park
• Lexington Manor

EAST SIDE:

• Hunters Ridge/Five Oaks
• Shadow Lakes Estates
• Indian Village
• Harrison Landing
• Lincoln Park
• Paths of  Deerfield
• Whispering Oaks
• Deeds Creek & Deeds Creek Manor
• Hickory Estates
• Timberline
• Crestview
• Timber Ridge Estates
• Patterson Place
• Silver Fox Ridge
• Harrison Ridge
• North Winds
• Barrington Hills
• Fox Run
• Old Farm Addition

North Side:

• Rolling Hills
• Northwest Woods
• River Lawn
• Valley Springs
• The Dells
• The Pines
• Hawthorne Addition
• Lake Forest

Winona Lake:

• Grace Village area
• Wooster Road area
• Town of Winona Lake
• Island
• Fairlane Drive