United Way of Sullivan County and the Sullivan County Sheriff Department have joined forces to hold dual “Stuff a Cruiser” events Feb. 23 — at Shaw’s in Newport and Hannaford’s in Claremont.
The events are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., when donations of nonperishable food will be accepted and placed inside police cruisers.
The events 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, former director of United Way of Sullivan County, said.
“The cold winter months have been exceptionally hard for our friends and neighbors, so Sheriff Simonds and I decided it was a great time to help,” Ranney said.
“Many donations come forward during the holiday season but the needs exists long after,” Sherriff Simonds said in a prepared statement.
Since July, the soup kitchen has provided 358 boxes per month from the pantry — including 180 new individuals since October, according to information provided by the United Way.
A total of 217,647 meals have come from the pantry.
About one third of the 800 individuals served by the kitchen are children, with another 120 being seniors.
The soup kitchen served 30,765 meals during the same time period, with another 2,300 meals provided to home-bound individuals.
“A priority of United Way of Sullivan County has always been to support the local community in any way we can,” Ranney said.
“By joining with the County Sheriff’s Deptartment, which shares 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 food kitchen. “We are grateful for their support.”
Donations of canned goods can be dropped off at Claremont Savings Bank, Ruger Firearms and Sullivan County Home.
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