Food drive leaders expect to hit goal Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 21 2009 02:35 AM By Don Bolding
Killeen Daily Herald

Friday's soaking weather may not have been the best for a major food drive, but officials said the last couple of drives have been conducted in both rain and bone-chilling cold, and they counted themselves fortunate.

The citywide effort was the 20th annual Holiday Food Drive of the 21-year-old Killeen Food Care Center, which counts on the one-day event to supply most of the needs of its own clients and churches and agencies it assists through the holiday season and early the following year. By about 11 a.m., about 14,000 pounds had come in from collection centers, and Gerald Farris, coordinator at the receiving point at the Killeen Special Events Center, said he expected the day's total to reach the goal of 100,000 pounds.

"That's about a month's worth by itself," he said, "but combined with contributions from local food stores and the Capital Area Food Bank in Austin, it will stretch until about March or April." Farris and his wife, Ann, are executive directors of the Food Care Center. Her job Friday was to ride the circuit of the collection points to make sure volunteers there had everything they needed, he said.

The collection points were the two H-E-B stores in Killeen and one in Harker Heights, the IGA Foodliner on Rancier Avenue, the Walmarts in Heights and Killeen, two commissary locations at Fort Hood and the Special Events Center itself.

Some of the locations had overhangs that kept volunteers and goods dry, and some erected tents from their own stock. At the Foodliner, the four volunteers had to abandon a parking-lot location and stand next to the door. "At least the wind's not blowing, and there's no dust," said Carolyn Robertson, "and it least it's light now. It wasn't when we got here." Gesturing toward four boxes collected by about 9 a.m., she said, "We expected to have a truckload by this time. But we'll be here until about 8:30 or 9 p.m., no matter what happens." As she was talking, a customer exiting the store dropped off a sack of items.

Late in the morning, officials at the Special Events Center had logged in 325 volunteers, including 50 soldiers, mostly family advocacy specialists who were giving up one of their two monthly training days to volunteer there. Many of the rest were Killeen public school students bused in by turns. Activity would surge as trucks and drivers loaned by Fort Hood would bring loads in and then subside for a little while. Volunteers sorted food by type to be delivered to the Food Care Center and stored or re-shipped to Greater Christ Gospel Church, the Assembly of God, Mission Killeen and the Harker Heights Food Pantry.

Master Sgt. Orlando Garcia approached Farris with a can of dog food and said, "Some dog is going to be lucky, I guess." Farris pointed him to a collection point for miscellaneous items that didn't fit any regular category.

Garcia said some of the day's collections would go for holiday baskets for soldiers and their families.

"We teach soldiers how to overcome financial problems and help them with immediate needs. We have food distribution centers on post, and we refer soldiers and families to the Food Care Center. So it's a privilege to be able to help with this," Garcia said. "The community helps the soldiers and we help the community. That's how it should work."

Farris said Central Texas College and all campuses in the Killeen Independent School District had been collecting food far in advance of Friday's efforts.

FCC administrator John Ott said requests for food had increased by about a third since he arrived here from Michigan two and a half years ago.

"A lot of people are retiring after working all their lives at minimum wage with no retirement income except Social Security, and some of them have people living with them," he said. "They didn't realize that Social Security payments are based on what you've earned, and now that $700 or $800 a month doesn't go very far."

He said a lot of the produce that comes from the Capital Area Food Bank is poor quality because farmers donate what they can't sell.

"I hope to see the Killeen Community Garden expanded, with some of the seniors we help donating time to growing fresh fruits and vegetables. But we run short of other things, too," Ott said. "We could use 200 times the amount of baby food we get, and we're always short on meats."

He praised the leadership of the Farrises in improving the center's physical plant. "We're getting a new freezer and an improved parking lot, among many other things. City personnel donated their off-duty time to put in a new sewer line. The whole place is worlds better than it was."

Contact Don Bolding at dbolding@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7557.