Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311100253
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM E. HUMMEL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The donations for food and fuel will be collected by the real estate agency and then distributed to local emergency assistance programs.
The drive, which collected thousands of pounds of food during the past two years, is expected to be bigger because of the added help from youth groups and a plan for deeper penetration into Giles County, said Rhonda Fultz, Raines advertising director in Blacksburg.
``I anticipate great things this year because we just have so many more people doing it,'' Fultz said.
The drive is now so well known in the community that people call to remind the agents to be sure and visit. They send agents to the grocery stores with checks to make the necessary purchases. And sometimes people call during the middle of the day and ask the agents to make pickups.
The agents are always happy to do so, Fultz said. The volunteers - 46 real estate agents, 75 Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and 30 members of the Montgomery County 4-H program - planned to distribute 3,000 food bags in Montgomery County and 2,000 food bags in Giles County.
Working in teams of three, the agents and Boy Scouts visit local neighborhoods to drop off the bags one day and collect them the next. Taped to each of the bags will be a flier describing the program in detail and suggestions for the kinds of items to be donated. The 4-H members will conduct food drives stationed at local grocery stores, Fultz said.
Suggested items for donation cover every aisle of the grocery store and include things such as cereal, beans, canned meats, toothpaste, toilet tissue and laundry detergent.
In Montgomery County the collected items will be distributed to the Blacksburg Interfaith Food Pantry, the New River Community Action Food Bank, the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program and Habitat for Humanity. Items collected in Giles County will be given to the Giles County Rescue Mission and the Giles County Ministerial Program, Fultz said.
The Rev. Harry Scott, who heads the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program, is delighted with any help the drive provides.
The program ``enables us to help people in dire need,'' Scott said.
Last year's drive collected between 6,000 and 7,000 pounds of food and more than $2,300 in fuel donations.
About $3,000 worth of food and fuel donations went to the emergency assistance program, which aims to provide assistance with finances, clothing, furniture and fuel. The fuel donations alone provided for about 28 local families, Scott said. As a United Way Agency, the program depends on private donations. Last year the program did about $116,000 worth of business, Scott said.
Linda Jametsky, Raines' local marketing director, came up with the idea for a food and fuel drive three years ago. She shared her ideas with Susan Walton, who works for Montgomery County Community Action. Walton is the daughter of Billie Walton, special projects agent at Raines Real Estate. Jametsky contacted some of the local food banks and the drive got under way. ``You know you're doing good because it's helping people in the community,'' Jametsky said. ``It seems as though people who have the least give the most, because they know how critical it is.''
The food and fuel program serves the dual purposes of replenishing local supplies during a slack time in the yearly donations cycle and improves the image of real estate agents in the community. In the first two years Raines Real Estate agents ran the program exclusively, amassing the donations at the Blacksburg office. A merger with Gillispie Realty, which had an office in Pearisburg, added five or six more agents and the opportunity to make a more thorough collection effort in Giles County. This year the community of Narrows will be covered for the first time, Jametsky said.
Usually, the heaviest giving times occur during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Supplies at food banks tend to drop during the summer, mainly because people don't associate summer with donations. That's the main reason Raines' drive takes place this time of year. Donations for fuel are important because the government fuel program does not begin helping people until well into the cold season, Scott said. Last year there were spin-off efforts in Radford and Roanoke. Raines also earned national recognition for the program through its parent company, Better Homes and Gardens. The drive began Oct. 25 and continues through Nov. 22.
by CNB