Annual food drive supports Harvest Hope Food Bank
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) is once again seeking donations of non-perishable food items and other necessities this Holiday season for delivery to Columbia’s Harvest Hope Food Bank in order to help brighten the season for those in greatest need.
Coordinating with WACH-FOX’s 24th annual SHARE YOUR HOLIDAY Food Drive and Food Truck Rodeo, RCSD’s food drive is running now through GIVING TUESDAY, Nov 29, 2022. On that date, RCSD deputies led by Sheriff Leon Lott will deliver all collected donations to First Baptist Church of Columbia (Washington Street parking lot) where the WACH-FOX event is being held. The collected items will then be picked up and delivered to the warehouses of Harvest Hope.
“This is yet another way we – meaning all of our deputies, the citizens of Richland County and communities beyond – can tangibly give and help our neighbors in need,” said Sheriff Lott. “It’s a season of great joy, but it’s also a time for many families in which emptiness and a lack of what is needed can be most deeply felt. My deputies and I feel we have a responsibility to address that need.”
Donations between now and Nov. 29 may be made in the lobbies of any one of three RCSD locations: RCSD’s main headquarters at 5623 Two Notch Rd., RCSD’s Region Two substation (annex side of the building) at 2500 Decker Blvd., and RCSD’s substation located at 1931 Pineview Rd.
The most needed items include canned meat, soup, vegetables, cereal, dry beans, dry pasta, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, and rice. Also needed are paper goods, diapers, and plastic bags.
On Giving Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 4:00 p.m. RCSD will arrive at the First Baptist Church parking lot and deliver the items collected by the department since Nov. 16.
WACH-FOX’s Share Your Holiday event is an annual partnership between the station, Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union, and First Baptist Church. Share Your Holiday is the largest food drive in the Palmetto State with an average of between 1.5 million and two million pounds of food collected in a single day each year.
– Pictured are Sheriff Lott and WACH reporters at Share Your Holiday 2021.
