Second annual Fight Hunger food drive this Saturday

The second annual Fight Hunger food drive sponsored by the Opelika-Auburn News and WRBL will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Walmart in Opelika.
Last year, the event collected more than 9,000 pounds of food for the Food Bank of East Alabama.
“The last six months, we have seen a real increase in the requests for assistance,” said Martha Henk, director of the Food Bank of East Alabama.
The food collected Saturday will go toward the pound total for the Beat Bama Food Drive, the annual competition between Auburn University and the University of Alabama in which the two schools compete to see who can collect the most pounds of food.
“This, in many ways, will kick start the Auburn-Alabama food fight,” Henk said.
There will be 12 wire bins set up on Saturday. Volunteers from the food bank and the newspaper will staff the event. Food donated will help get the food bank through the holiday season.
“It really is not an exaggeration that it’s the difference between us being able to provide food for Thanksgiving and Christmas and beyond,” Henk said.
Volunteers will be handing out shopping lists at the entrance of the Opelika Walmart. The most sought-after food items are peanut butter, canned meat, canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned soups, canned stews, canned pasta, macaroni and cheese dinners and rice.
“I would say those are really the big ones right now,” Henk said.
The food bank distributes food to about 180 agencies in east Alabama.
“When people hear of the need, they really do what they can to respond to that,” Henk said.
Melissa Blackburn, marketing and News-
paper in Education coordinator at the Opelika-Auburn News, has been leading the event for the paper. She said last year’s event was a success and hopes this year is the same.
“At the Opelika-Auburn News … serving the needs of the community is as important as anything else we do. The food drive, which we partner with WRBL to produce, is an important part of that community mission. This year it is even more important, as donations have dropped,” Blackburn said.

If You Go
What: Opelika-Auburn News and WRBL Fight Hunger food drive, benefitting the Food Bank of East Alabama
When: Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Walmart in Opelika