I never put a title to photographs, however, this will be an exception. In honor of our Loveland school children, “The Everyday Table Shakers“.
by David Miller
Loveland, Ohio – Loveland Magazine was invited to the LIFE Food Pantry Pass it On Food Drive last Friday to witness hundreds of students walking food donations from their school to the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on Lebanon Road. The two buildings are about 3/4 mile from each other.
This was the 20-year anniversary of the food drive started by Nancy Grant to heal wounds after the terrorist attack on 9/11. It has always been scheduled ahead of the holiday season. The purpose is so that clients of the LIFE Food Pantry and other residents in the community can eat
Ahead of Friday, LIFE Executive Director Linda Bergholz explained how extremely important the event is for the pantry. She said, “As you all know, Thanksgiving is coming up and for us at the food pantry. It is an extraordinarily important time of year. Food insecurity has always been important. Food insecurity during a Pandemic is enormous.”
Grant said twenty years ago, “Well, we can’t change the world, but we can change our little corner of it.” She had this idea to line up the kids down the street and pass the food donations one bag and box, hand-to-hand at a time to one another until it reached the church. A pay it forward so children could feel good about themselves. She thinks it worked after 9/11 and will now – during the Pandemic. This year the students at the Loveland Intermediate and Middle schools didn’t exactly “pass-it-on” to one another, but each carried their own donations to the church.
After the donations arrived, volunteers sorted, date checked, organized, and assembled a Thanksgiving meal box to go out to area families. The huge effort is to ensure that all our Loveland families and singles will have the items they would need so they can sit down together and enjoy a traditional meal for the holiday.
Each classroom/grade K-4 also had specific items to collect that were delivered to the church in cars and vans.
Here is a very short timelapse video of the food being delivered and a few photos of the donations.
As we move into the season of gratitude, we are so thankful for our donors and our volunteers that work together to make the holidays brighter for families in our community that need a helping hand.
Without the dedication, long hours, giving spirits, and loving hearts, the LIFE Food Pantry wouldn’t be able to provide Thanksgiving Box Meals, the Holiday Giving Shop and Holiday Bag Meals.
From canned goods to gift cards, from turkeys to stuffing — all of your donations fill the boxes with meals for the season. New coats, toys, household items, clothing, stocking stuffers fill our Holiday Giving Shop tables with gifts for the holiday guaranteed to bring happy smiles to both the littles and the seniors and everyone in between.
Your generosity touches the lives of so many, and for this we give thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Linda Bergholz, Executive DirectorLIFE Food Pantry
Above Photos © 2021 by David Miller/Loveland Magazine
