Food collection to benefit Claremont Soup Kitchen

CLAREMONT — United Way of Sullivan County and the Sullivan County Sheriff ‘s Department have joined forces to hold a “Stuff a Cruiser” event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23 at Shaw’s in Newport and Hannaford’s in Claremont.

The nonperishable food will benefit the Claremont Soup Kitchen.

February is National Canned Food Month, so we thought we would take this opportunity to support the wonderful work of the Claremont Soup Kitchen, Dawn Ranney, Executive Director of United Way of Sullivan County said.

“The cold winter months have been exceptionally hard for our friends and neighbors, so Sheriff John Simonds and I decided it was a great time to help. Many donations come forward during the holiday season, but the needs exists long after, Sheriff Simonds said.

Since July the Claremont Soup Kitchen has provided 358 boxes per month from the pantry including 180 new individuals since October alone. A total of 217,647 meals have come from the pantry as well. One third of the 800 needing food are children, with another 120 being seniors.

In addition, the Soup Kitchen served 30,765 meals during the same time period with another 2,300 meals provided to home-bound individuals. The need is great. A priority of United Way of Sullivan County has always been to support the local community in any way we can.

By joining with the County Sheriff ‘s Department, who share the same philosophy, we can further expand the benefit given to those less fortunate, Ranney added. Sullivan County is lucky to have agencies like these two who are willing to step up, make the commitment to help and make a difference, said Cindy Stevens of the Claremont Soup Kitchen. “We are grateful for their support.”

Please help United Way of Sullivan County and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department to make a difference in lives by donating nonperishable food, Ranney stated. The opportunity is available to help now by leaving items at Claremont Savings Bank, Sturm, Ruger, and Sullivan County Home.