Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL –   In honor of “National Hunger Month” the “Strike Out Hunger Community-Wide Food Drive” will take place on Monday November 7, 2011, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  The drop off location for non-perishable food donations is the Alachua County Fairgrounds located at 2900 NE 39^th Avenue, Gainesville. All donations will be distributed to local food banks, pantries, and student take home backpack/food programs.  

This year’s Co-Champions are Alachua County Commissioner Rodney J. Long and City of Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe.

The mission of the Strike Out Hunger Community-Wide Food Drive is to collaborate with government, educational, law enforcement, and not-for-profit agencies as well as local businesses, faith based organizations, and City and County residents, to develop an all encompassing food drive to help feed the hungry in Alachua County.

The goal is to build a safety net for those in need of food, increase the availability of food to those who are nutritionally challenged, bring awareness to the ever growing issue of hunger, and develop a work plan to unite community food collections.  An additional goal is to collect 100,000 pounds of food and 1,000 turkeys.  

Two upcoming related events:

1.    On Monday October 24, 2011 bring at least two nonperishable food items for free entry into the Alachua County Fair

2.    On Saturday November 5, 2011, those attending the Florida vs. Vanderbilt Homecoming game are encouraged to drop off nonperishable items.  There will be a collection area at the Verizon Gator FanFest area (outside of Gate 2 of the O'Connell Center) beginning three hours prior to kick-off (TBD). 

 “I am always impressed by how this community comes together to help those in need,” said Commissioner Long, “At our planning workshops, over 60 community leaders have come together to assess the strengths and weaknesses in our present efforts, establish linkages, and identify ways to create a food security system that will improve the self-reliance of community members over their food needs.”

Two important items:

·         September 20, 2011 Community-Wide Food Drive Workshop Minutes

·         Strike Out Hunger Community-Wide Food Drive Poster

The next meeting of all participating organizations will be October 20, 2011 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-purpose Center located at 1024 NE 14^th Street, Gainesville.  Citizens and the media are encouraged to attend.

October 20, 2011 Workshop agenda

To RSVP your attendance to this meeting or for more information concerning food donations, contact Marie Small at 352-264-6745 or mdsmall@alachuacounty.us.