Food drive gets results

ConAgra Foods and metro area Baker's Supermarkets presented checks Wednesday to the Food Bank for the Heartland that represented the results of this year's “Shine the Light on Hunger” campaign.

ConAgra donated $166,487.28, representing the proceeds from the ConAgra Foods ice skating rink, as well as an additional $100,000.

“We had made, in the beginning, a pledge to match dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, all of the money that was raised at the ice skating rink, so we did a little better than that,” said Chris Kircher, president of the ConAgra Foods Foundation.

“As a food company, we believe we can make a significant difference in the area of hunger, and we're committed to ending child hunger not only in the community, but nationwide,” Kircher said.

Baker's donated $10,230.56 collected from its metro area supermarkets as part of the campaign.

Tim Williams, a Baker's store manager, was on hand to present the check.

In addition, ConAgra donated more than 152,863 pounds of food and supplies collected from more than 175 participating businesses and schools.

The “Shine the Light on Hunger” campaign kicked off on Thanksgiving night at the Holiday Lights Festival opening ceremonies downtown. The centerpiece of the campaign was the 60-foot by 120-foot ice rink, which drew nearly 10,000 people over the course of the campaign. Proceeds from the rink were $66,487.28.

Susan Ogborn, president and CEO of the Food Bank, said that although holiday season is past, “It's still cold and people are still hungry.

“This provides the funds and the food that we need to get us through until summer,” she said. “It all comes in now, and then we carefully distribute it throughout the next four or five months.”