Palouse Cares slates Palouse wide food collection day

Saturday, Dec. 1, Palouse Cares volunteers will gather food for community food banks. Volunteers in Colfax will meet at Rosauers at 9 a.m. ready to go door-to-door. Food and cash donations will be accepted.

In Colfax, the goal this year is to raise $2,000 in cash donations and 2,000 pounds of food for the food bank with the help of 50 volunteers.

A silent auction table installed at Rosauers will close Saturday at 11 a.m. All donations in Colfax will benefit the food bank at Council on Aging and Community Action Center.

Items needed for the food drive are: canned tuna, canned chicken, canned fruit, canned chili, peanut butter, mayonnaise, soda crackers, jam, “kid friendly” cereal, instant potatoes, pasta sauces, Tuna Helper, margarine (sticks), chicken broth, canned evaporated milk, flavored powdered creamers, sugar packets, pie crusts, pie fillings, olives, pickles, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper and cooking seasonings. Personal care items also are needed such as shampoo, conditioner, soaps, body wash, razors, deodorant and feminine care products.

Volunteers are needed across the area to collect food and are encouraged to meet at 9 a.m. at the following locations: Eastside Marketplace, Moscow; Zeppoz, Pullman; Harvest Foods, Potlatch; Genesee Store, Genesee; Palouse Market, Palouse. There are also various drop-off locations in Deary and Bovill.

Since 2006, Palouse Cares has donated more than 130,000 pounds of food and $110,000 to local community food banks and nonprofit organizations serving the Palouse. This is the food drive’s first year expanding into the Palouse and Genesee areas after adding the Colfax and Potlatch areas in 2011.

For more information, contact Rick Minard: rick@mbspbs.com, or http://www.palousecares.org.