1-800 RID-OF-IT Supports Seattle Food Banks with Summer Food Drive!
With an increase in demand as high as 30% this year, food banks across Seattle are desperate for donations. Solid Ground is hoping a three-day initiative starting Wednesday by local junk removal company 1-800 RID-OF-IT will help the troubling situation.
Trish Twomey, Hunger Action Center Manager for Solid Ground, reports that there is always an increased demand for food items in the summer because school is out and children no longer have access to breakfast or lunch programs. However, this summer the situation is markedly worse. Food and monetary donations are significantly lower this year, while demand is up on average 13% across Seattle. To make things worse, rising food and gas prices diminish the amount that food banks can purchase or deliver. The prices of many food items have increased as much as 30% from last year, while the price of rice has doubled.
“Families in our community are hungry, and the food banks are not able to cope with the increasing need,” says Twomey. “Working families are faced with tough decisions and choices, and they are turning to food banks to cover some of their food costs. This food drive is a great way to help families feed their kids.”
1-800-RID-OF-IT, with a fleet of three trucks in Seattle, is offering to pick up non-perishable food donations from residences across Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue until September 19, free of charge. The company will deliver the food donations to various food banks in the Greater Seattle area.
“We’re looking to inspire people with a summer sense of Christmas goodwill,” says Mike McKee, President of 1-800-RID-OF-IT “It doesn’t take too much effort to pick up the phone and call us to come and get those extra cans of beans.”
Also, for the last week of August, 5 percent of every residential junk removal pick up will be donated to Solid Ground. Solid Ground's Food Resources program provides assistance to the Seattle Food Committee, which is a coalition of 27 neighborhood food banks that over 60,000 families rely on each year.
For a free pick-up, call 1-800-743-6348.
For more information, please contact:
Mike McKee, President, 1-800-RID-OF-IT Junk Removal: 206-364-0266
Trish Twomey, Hunger Action Center Manager, Solid Ground: 206-694-6756
Want to Help?
You can always make a donation to a Food Bank in your area; for a comprehensive list of food banks serving Seattle and King County, click here. This week, you can call us and arrange for us to pick up your items on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday evening. Call 1-800-743-6348 and we will make sure to stop by your home or office! Help us reach our goal of collecting 1000 items!