Times-Union Staff Writer

Holidays aren't the only time of the year when food is needed to help the less fortunate.

It's needed year-round.

At Combined Community Services, director of development Darlene Redinger said, the "food pantry is always, always in need of restocking," because with every food drive, there are always people coming in with needs to be met.

And to help fill that need, the Warsaw Community High School freshman student council will sponsor its annual canned food drive Feb. 10-21.

According to freshman student council member Adam Wishart, the council wants to collect at least 8,000 cans from WCHS students. An additional challenge, according to Danielle Snyder, freshman student council, is to have the community collect and at least match what the school raises. She said they want to get the community more involved in the project, so they're trying to get the word out as much as possible.

"These young people have a very lofty goal," said Redinger.

On the WRSW morning show Monday at 8:30 a.m., students will ask for community support, she said. The radio station will then run public service announcements while the canned food drive is ongoing to get the public involved.

"We are involving the community by putting bags on door steps and then picking the bags up," said Wishart.

With 10 members on the student council, said Snyder, each member and a friend will deliver the bags - donated by Owens - to neighborhoods on Feb. 20. The bags, with canned food goods inside that have been donated by the residents of the neighborhoods, will then be picked up by students Feb. 22. Snyder said the neighborhoods where the bags will be delivered have not yet been finalized, but if someone does not get a bag and wants to donate nonperishable food items to CCS, they may drop off the items at the high school, WRSW or either of the two Owens locations.

"Basically," said Snyder, "we're trying to get the community involved, and with the economy as it is, we're hoping it will be successful."

"We're hopefully trying to get the community to match what we get" at the high school, said Wishart.

With Valentine's Day this month, the canned food drive is one way for the community to show their "love" for others, said Snyder.

"The economy is down and we really need to - now more than ever - get our community involved," said Wishart. Without fellowship in the local community, he said, the nation as a whole can't improve the economy.

Redinger said that according to December 2002 statistics, in 2002, there were 4,426 families helped with food orders, an increase of 7 percent from 2001. In 2002, there were also 33,923 total household occupants helped, which does include some repeats. That's a 2 percent increase of food orders over the previous year.

Of the 4,426 families helped, 993 new families were served.

A food order for a family lasts only a few days, Redinger said. The average food order is a bag per person and includes staples such as pasta, peanut butter, etc. There also is a need for paper and soap products. Redinger said 770 families asked for such products last year, with 362 families asking for diapers.

Food pantry items needed, according to a list provided by Redinger, include spaghetti, rice, macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, cake mixes, canned meat products, crackers, cereal, coffee, Kool Aid pre-sweetened, toilet paper, dish soap, baby wipes, spaghetti sauce, boxed potato products, canned potatoes, canned fruit, frosting mixes or canned, soups, cookies, hot cereals, hot cocoa, fruit or vegetable juice, paper towels, laundry soap or all sizes of baby diapers.

Each time a family visits CCS, she said, they are evaluated for eligibility. And each time, CCS makes the family aware of other programs, like the job placement program.

Redinger said she likes to see young people get involved with the community through such things as the canned food drive, and, "I think it's going to be very interesting."

CCS, Prairie Street, Warsaw, is a member of the United Way of Kosciusko County and can be contacted by calling 269-6019. Their Web site is at www.kconline.com/kcccs [[In-content Ad]]