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Father Fred Frostbite Food Drive Comes this Weekend

“It’s because of the community and their donations (that) allow us to, year after year, provide services to this community.” – Stephanie Kimball

From flour to fruit, the Father Fred Foundation is ready for donations to start filling the shelves during the Frostbite Food Drive Fundraiser.

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The annual food drive is Father Fred’s largest effort of the year, and they say it’s always important to their mission. They bring in about $30,000 in cash and food donations every winter, but that only puts a dent in their need for one month at the food pantry.

“We saw nearly 9,000 visits to our pantry this year, which was almost double over last year and in 2021. We see on average 700 visits per month in the pantry, which costs around $48,000 to fill that pantry per month,” says Communications Manager Stephanie Kimball. “We also take monetary donations. Cash donations help us to buy the produce the fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, things like that... along with the other items that are donated.”

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Father Fred says inflation and higher food costs are contributing to the need. The Food Drive kicks off this Saturday. The main location is at Team Bob’s on South Airport Road.

Kimball says, “We’re having a big kickoff event out at Team Bob’s. It runs through Sunday, Feb. 5. At the kickoff event, we’re going to have some special things going on. We’re going to have some hot cocoa, s’mores, a bonfire. We have the Chubby Unicorn food truck coming out this year to sell sandwiches. And we’re going to have some drawings. If you donate 10 or more items, you will be entered in a drawing. Old Town Playhouse has donated some tickets and some other local restaurants and businesses have donated.”

Tom’s and Oleson’s food markets will also have collection tables set up throughout the week. And Father Fred is always looking for volunteers to staff the main drop off site or the grocery store locations.

For more details on how you can help, or to donate online, Click Here.

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