Spreading peanut butter to support local Food Bank
September 4, 2012 12:32PM
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana’s third annual Spread the Love peanut butter food drive is underway.
Spread the Love is a Hunger Action Month activity. It raised over 27,000 jars of peanut butter last year. The main component of the drive is a competition between local schools to see who can raise the most jars of peanut butter throughout the month of September.
The high school and middle schools which raise the most jars receive a traveling trophy, and the classroom in each participating elementary school that raises the most receives a pizza party. This year 50 schools are participating in Lake and Porter counties.
In addition to collecting in schools, a number of local businesses are joining the drive and helping to raise peanut butter. Jars of peanut butter can be donated at all Strack & Van Til Food Markets, Ultra Foods and Town and Country Food Markets throughout the month.
Dutch Farms is also joining in with its Operation Lunch Box campaign. During the first week of September, Dutch Farms will donate a jar of peanut butter to the Food Bank when a customer purchases three qualifying Dutch Farms items.
Participating Porter County Little Caesar’s pizza restaurants will give a free order of Crazy Bread on carry out orders for every jar of peanut butter donated in the store.
Donations can also be made at the Chick-Fil-A in Merrillville.
The food bank has also set up a virtual food drive where donors can purchase and donate peanut butter online. To make an online donation visit www.spreadthelovepeanutbutter.org.
This year Christian radio station Shine.FM has also joined the Spread the Love team by helping expand the drive to two more food banks, Northern Illinois Food Bank and Gleaner’s Food Bank in Indianapolis. Shine.FM will also promote the drive at local churches by offering free commercials to participating churches.
The goal is to raise 500,000 jars of peanut butter through all these different activities that will be divided between the three food banks.
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is located in Gary and supplies food to over 100 pantries and soup kitchens in Lake and Porter counties.
