FESTIVAL FOODS, AREA SCHOOLS JOIN THE CAUSE
The Packers Women's Association, in conjunction with Festival Foods, will hold its 20th Annual Food Drive for Paul's Pantry prior to Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams at Lambeau Field. This year's effort is headed by co-chairwomen Dr. Kaye Cole and Laura Hawk.
PWA members, who will be wearing their husband's or significant other's jersey or PWA jerseys, will collect non-perishable food items and cash donations in the stadium parking lot and at the gates prior to kickoff. Food items can be placed in bins located throughout the Lambeau Field parking lot. Volunteers from Paul's Pantry will be assisting with the collection and Festival Food's 'Big Carts' will be on site to promote the cause, too.
As an added incentive to donate to the food drive, fans have an opportunity to win Packers autographed items. For every $5 donation or five non-perishable food items contributed, a fan will receive a ticket stub. The winning ticket numbers will be drawn and announced on the matrix board during the game. Fans with the winning ticket stubs can pick up their item at the Fan Assistance booth at section 109 in the stadium's main concourse.
"We've been aggressively working toward collecting canned goods and monetary donations, educating others about Paul's Pantry and involving the community in this great service project," said Cole. "This year marks the 20th year the PWA has been collecting donations for Paul's Pantry, and we want people to know their contributions are vitally important, accounting for nearly half of the Pantry's food intake for the year."
Last year's effort collected more than $12,000 and 16,800 food items. Overall, in the previous 19 years of conducting the food drive, the PWA has collected nearly 544,000 non-perishable food items and more than $180,000 for Paul's Pantry, a supplementary food distribution program for the needy in the greater Green Bay area.
Also, beginning Sunday and continuing through the end of next week, all Festival Foods locations will have bins in their stores to collect food for the cause. Green Bay and De Pere Festival Foods will be sending donations to Paul's Pantry and other Festival Foods locations will donate items to a local pantry at the end of the week. Festival Foods also will be conducting an in-store fundraiser where customers can by two of a selected item with the second one costing five cents, with proceeds going to Paul's Pantry and other food pantries.
Area schools also will be participating in this worthwhile cause in the form of a competition. Three schools, the top two collectors and a third randomly selected, will be rewarded with a visit from a Green Bay Packers player. The collections will be tallied by measuring the total pounds collected and dividing it by the school's total enrollment. The date and time of the players' visits will be coordinated following the food drive.
