West county-based nonprofit Food For Thought (FFT) is looking tuna, olive oil, whole grain crackers and other food donations at its upcoming Monday, Feb. 8 drive-thru food drive at the Oliver’s Market parking lot on Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa.
A press release from FFT said FFT’s team will accept groceries “from the safety of people’s own vehicles” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mostly volunteers take in the donations and disinfect them before it arrives at the food bank for safe distribution to clients, said
Volunteer Program Manager Helen Myers, who oversees FFT’s food drives with Food Drive Coordinator Kristi Snyder.
“Once the holidays are over, I would say our donations at food drives typically go down a bit. And that’s why it’s particularly important to attend our food drives now,” she said.
Myers said the amount of food the nonprofit distributes has jumped significantly since FFT created its COVID-19 Nutrition Program in 2020 to feed Sonoma County residents coming down with the coronavirus.
“So, we probably now more than ever really appreciate all the donations we receive out at our food drives and all of the volunteers that are out there collecting the food at our food drives,” she said.
The donated food reaches clients who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or living with HIV or congestive heart failure, as well as residents discharged from the hospital in FFT’s Welcome Home Nutrition Program, Myers said.
She said the next food drive will be Feb. 22 at the Oliver’s Market’s Montecito location.
FFT Communications Manager Kathleen Haack’s press release includes this link for donors to give to the nonprofit’s virtual food drive here: https://www.fftfoodbank.org/virtual-food-drive
