REMC Arranges For Free Potato Giveaway
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Mashed potatoes, French fries, potato salad, hash browns, potato cakes and potato bread are just a small sample of what one can make with potatoes.
From 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 28 at the Kosciusko REMC parking lot, 523 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, individuals can pick up free potatoes while supplies last. The potatoes are provided free from the Society of St. Andrew; no paperwork or forms are required.
"These are for any individual who will come who is hungry," said David McCleary, North Indiana United Methodist Conference Hunger Relief Advocate for the Society of St. Andrew. If any individual knows of someone else who is in need of the potatoes, but that person does not have the transportation to pick up the potatoes, McCleary said a sack of potatoes can be picked up for them.
All Kosciusko County food banks/agencies and all church pantries/kitchens also are encouraged to bring trucks and pick up the bagged potatoes to help replenish their shelves for the hungry this holiday season.
Society of St. Andrew is based in Virginia and there are 576 United Methodist Churches in Indiana.
"Basically," said McCleary, "we're in the business of feeding the hungry."
Kosciusko REMC marketing manager Larry Easterday and McCleary coordinated and arranged for 22,000 tons of potatoes to be delivered to Kosciusko County. Kosciusko REMC Operation Round Up Fund provided a $2,500 transportation grant for the potatoes to be brought here.
Operation Round Up is an ongoing charitable fund-raising program whose mission is to benefit worthwhile community programs. REMC began the Round Up campaign in January 2003. Participating members of the REMC agree to have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the nearest dollar amount. The cents generated by this process are deposited in the REMC Round Up fund, which is held with the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
The Gleaning Network of the Society of St. Andrew coordinates volunteers, growers and distribution agencies from around the country to salvage food for the hungry.
"These potatoes that are coming in next Friday are from what they call the potato project St. Andrew has," said McCleary.
The Gleaning Network also gathers other vegetables, such as onions, green beans and carrots, from farmers but potatoes are the main crop because the vegetable has so many uses, McCleary said.
According to information from the Society of St. Andrew, 33 million Americans regularly go without food, and 13 million of them are children. "A segment of the population is malnourished. Women, children, the unemployed, the working poor and homeless people all are impacted by the tragedy of humor," the information states.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 20 percent of all food grown in this country is wasted - either because it's not commercially marketable or it is missed during mechanical harvesting. With the food that is wasted annually, all the United States hungry could be fed.
The Gleaning Network addresses these problems of hunger and waste through the ancient biblical practice of gleaning, the gathering of crops left in fields after harvest.
Helping to unload the potatoes from the semi will be Boy Scout Troop 715, Winona Lake, and Boy Scout Troop 761, Pierceton, along with United Methodist Men of Pleasant Grove Church and REMC employees.
McCleary said this is the first time the free potatoes have been offered in Kosciusko County. Because of the $2,500 REMC Round Up transportation donation, "that's the reason I feel these (potatoes) belong to our county," said McCleary.
For more information, call McCleary at 269-1143 or contact Larry Easterday at Kosciusko REMC.
McCleary said, "Our passion is to help feed the hungry." [[In-content Ad]]
Mashed potatoes, French fries, potato salad, hash browns, potato cakes and potato bread are just a small sample of what one can make with potatoes.
From 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 28 at the Kosciusko REMC parking lot, 523 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, individuals can pick up free potatoes while supplies last. The potatoes are provided free from the Society of St. Andrew; no paperwork or forms are required.
"These are for any individual who will come who is hungry," said David McCleary, North Indiana United Methodist Conference Hunger Relief Advocate for the Society of St. Andrew. If any individual knows of someone else who is in need of the potatoes, but that person does not have the transportation to pick up the potatoes, McCleary said a sack of potatoes can be picked up for them.
All Kosciusko County food banks/agencies and all church pantries/kitchens also are encouraged to bring trucks and pick up the bagged potatoes to help replenish their shelves for the hungry this holiday season.
Society of St. Andrew is based in Virginia and there are 576 United Methodist Churches in Indiana.
"Basically," said McCleary, "we're in the business of feeding the hungry."
Kosciusko REMC marketing manager Larry Easterday and McCleary coordinated and arranged for 22,000 tons of potatoes to be delivered to Kosciusko County. Kosciusko REMC Operation Round Up Fund provided a $2,500 transportation grant for the potatoes to be brought here.
Operation Round Up is an ongoing charitable fund-raising program whose mission is to benefit worthwhile community programs. REMC began the Round Up campaign in January 2003. Participating members of the REMC agree to have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the nearest dollar amount. The cents generated by this process are deposited in the REMC Round Up fund, which is held with the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
The Gleaning Network of the Society of St. Andrew coordinates volunteers, growers and distribution agencies from around the country to salvage food for the hungry.
"These potatoes that are coming in next Friday are from what they call the potato project St. Andrew has," said McCleary.
The Gleaning Network also gathers other vegetables, such as onions, green beans and carrots, from farmers but potatoes are the main crop because the vegetable has so many uses, McCleary said.
According to information from the Society of St. Andrew, 33 million Americans regularly go without food, and 13 million of them are children. "A segment of the population is malnourished. Women, children, the unemployed, the working poor and homeless people all are impacted by the tragedy of humor," the information states.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 20 percent of all food grown in this country is wasted - either because it's not commercially marketable or it is missed during mechanical harvesting. With the food that is wasted annually, all the United States hungry could be fed.
The Gleaning Network addresses these problems of hunger and waste through the ancient biblical practice of gleaning, the gathering of crops left in fields after harvest.
Helping to unload the potatoes from the semi will be Boy Scout Troop 715, Winona Lake, and Boy Scout Troop 761, Pierceton, along with United Methodist Men of Pleasant Grove Church and REMC employees.
McCleary said this is the first time the free potatoes have been offered in Kosciusko County. Because of the $2,500 REMC Round Up transportation donation, "that's the reason I feel these (potatoes) belong to our county," said McCleary.
For more information, call McCleary at 269-1143 or contact Larry Easterday at Kosciusko REMC.
McCleary said, "Our passion is to help feed the hungry." [[In-content Ad]]