Press releases

Food drives fill House of Hope pantries

PRESS RELEASE DATE: FEB. 12, 2009

Food drives leading up to Thanksgiving helped stock the pantries at House of Hope, led by the 25th annual Food For Families drive coordinated by WPTV Channel 5.

The Food For Families drive, conducted from Oct. 12 to Nov. 23, brought in 10,936 pounds of food to supply House of Hope’s pantries in Stuart, Hobe Sound, Indiantown and Jensen Beach for the holidays and a few weeks to come.

Eighteen local businesses and school groups participated in Food For Families within Martin County, In addition, viewers of West Palm Beach-based Channel 5 contributed nearly 1,500 pounds of food during a live day-long on-air drive Nov. 20. 

Leading the way locally was Seacoast National Bank with 3,285 pounds collected. Other leaders included Citrus Grove Elementary with 1,284 pounds, Indiantown Middle School with 968, Felix A. Williams Elementary with  871, Publix at Cove Road with 730, Hobe Sound Christian Academy with 544, and Little Club in Tequesta with 526.

Also participating were Fernhill Memorial Gardens, Fox Wackeen et al., Golf USA, Martin County High School, Martin County Property Appraiser’s Office, MedVance Institute, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Publix on Baker Road, RV Johnson Insurance and Warfield Elementary.

Outside of Food For Families, other groups, businesses, churches and government entities led major drives during the pre-Thanksgiving period, including the following:

• The Realtor Association of Martin County collected 577 pounds, The Pine School collected 2,143 between its upper and lower schools, and St. Joseph Catholic Church collected 831 pounds.

• Milam’s Market had nearly 400 pounds of food in its most recent pickup from a year-round collection from customers and supplemented it with $168 donated by the supermarket’s employees.

• The Town of Sewall’s Point conducted its annual food drive, collecting 192 pounds and contributing a $500 donation.

• St. Mary’s Episcopal Church also supplemented its annual food drive with several gift cards for families’ holiday meals.

• Several gated communities held holiday food drives, including Yacht & Country Club, Lost Lake and Piper’s Landing.

Food drives are continuing at many businesses, churches, schools and communities throughout Martin County. Donations are welcome directly to any of House of Hope’s four locations – in Stuart, Hobe Sound, Indiantown and Jensen Beach.

House of Hope is a nonprofit agency that provides food, clothing, case management and emergency financial assistance to Martin County people in need. The agency is Martin County’s largest provider of food to the hungry, and serves as a safety net for thousands of families, working people and senior citizens who are struggling through hard times.

For more information about House of Hope, call (772) 286-4673 or visit www.hohmartin.org.