Feed Lake County Awards Reception

United Way of Lake County will distribute awards to volunteers, businesses and organizations for their participation in its Feed Lake County Campaign tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The ceremony will take place at our Mentor office, 9285 Progress Parkway.

The Feed Lake County campaign began on March 25 and raised more than 38,000 pounds of food and $34,000 in cash donations. The cash donations will be used to purchase more food.

Also during the reception, United Way of Lake County officials will announce one final push to increase food and cash donations for this year’s campaign.

The Feed Lake County Campaign showcased many highlights including the second annual Food Parade and Celebration at Great Harvest Bread Co. on April 27. More than 50 businesses and organizations dropped off their food donations on that day. Dozens of volunteers then collected and sorted the food and we distributed the donations to 51 Lake County food pantries on May 1 and May 2.

Other highlights from the Feed Lake County Campaign included:

·         Mentor High School kicked off the campaign by raising 11,491 pounds of food during a food drive held at the school.

·         Marous Brothers Construction recruited five other Willoughby businesses on Joseph Lloyd Parkway to combine food drives and collect more than 5,000 pounds of food.

·         In total, there were approximately 112 food drives conducted during the campaign.

·         Willoughby Municipal Court’s Helping Hands Program helped purchase 520 hams from Giant Eagle, which reached food pantries in time for Easter.

·         FirstEnergy Perry Nuclear Facility donated $17,830, which was the largest cash donation during the campaign.