35°
"It's amazing how much the community will give on a single day. And having worked in the food pantry, its amazing to see how fast it goes," said Liz Oken who, with her daughter, was volunteering at the sorting base.
Oken has been volunteering at the food pantry for at least 20 years she said, and her 17-year-old daughter Haley had been helping out since she was 7.
Supporting this food drive for has been a Darien tradition for the last 22 years, and has gotten to be such a huge event that Palmers Grocery store donates the paper collection bags that the mail carriers deliver the week before the drive.
"Some people have been volunteering for years," Person-to-Person Executive Director Ceci Maher said.
In the past, this food drive has provided enough food to keep the Person-to-Person food pantry stocked for around three months, said Maher.
Part of the concern this year, is that since it was wet out, people would't put their bags outside to be picked up.
"We always find in years we have rain, we get less," Maher said. She added that it was important for people to remember that even if they forgot to put the bag out on Saturday, they can always bring them to the food pantry any other day.
"I think that even when the economy is bad, I think this community recognizes that if it's bad here, its probably worse for the communities we serve," said Pat Cage, the Inkind Manager at Person-to-Person.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Darien and receive free news updates.
