By Tom Hogan
People love to give. However, while there are many generous, good-hearted people who want to donate and help others, they don’t always know how they can help. It can be difficult to find the right opportunities to do good and know that one’s efforts are making a difference.
Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, has successfully developed a program to assist people going through a rough patch by supplying food, resources, education, and other assistance as needed—providing excellent opportunities for people to donate, get involved, and do good.
However, while the food bank typically has about one million pounds of food on hand in the warehouse, supplies have diminished over the past six months, leaving the warehouse with just under 600,000 pounds of food—about 400,000 short. Furthermore, the grocery rescue program has been down about 50,000 pounds of food each month.
If you are looking for opportunities to do good in Utah Valley, consider contributing through Community Action Services and Food Bank and discover the priceless joy of helping others in your community who are going through tough times. Here’s how you can get involved.
Donate Food and Money
One of the biggest needs the organization has right now is more food donations. We are low on food supply in many categories, especially frozen meat, other protein, dried beans, and rice.
Food items can be donated by simply dropping them off at our Provo location at 815 S. Freedom Boulevard, Suite 100. We are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, and we have an outside drop box for after hours. If you prefer to donate money, you can also submit a secure donation online.
Host a Food Drive
To contribute even more and help get others involved, consider joining forces with other organizations you are a part of to host a food drive. If you are interested in doing so, feel free to contact us at thogan@communityactionuc.org (we would love to work with you directly) and read up on some tips on our food drive page.
Volunteer at the Pantry
Our Provo pantry location will have a grand reopening on October 24. After that, we will be open for volunteer groups of all types and for both the daytime and evening. Be on the lookout for more details in the next month, and visit our volunteer page to join the team!
In addition to Provo, we have locations in Springville, Heber City, Coalville, Oakley, and Orem. Hours and addresses can be found on our website.
See the Results
While donating a few food items may seem inconsequential, the donations add up and make a significant difference in people’s lives. Recently, one visitor to the pantry explained that she was on a fixed income of less than $1,000 per month, with rent taking over a third of that money each month. She didn’t want to bother anybody for help—in fact, she had been the helper all her life. She said, “I just don’t remember it being this hard. Prices are increasing every day. I’m so very glad you guys are here to just smooth out the rough edges.”
We understand that everyone goes through hard times. At Community Action Services, we might not be able to solve every problem, but by providing some help with food, incomes can be stretched just a little further, making a rough time just a little smoother.
Your small acts can make a big difference for a family, too. We hope you will make a donation or get involved, and we are grateful for any contributions you can make!
