Canned Fruit Drive Is Underway
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Mayor Tommy Reynolds and City Clerk Vivian Snider encourage residents to donate canned fruit as part of March of the Mayors, a statewide food drive.
WATER VALLEY – If you have ever stepped inside Compassion Ministries, you know it is not just a building. It is neighbors helping neighbors. It is quiet conversations. It is boxes carried out with dignity.
When Mayor Tommy Reynolds said yes to participating in March of the Mayors, a statewide food drive organized by Extra Table, Water Valley joined more than 55 Mississippi cities taking part from January 26 through February 27. Each community has been assigned one specific item to collect.
Water Valley’s item is canned fruit. Peaches. Pears. Fruit cocktail. Pineapple. The kind that sits steady on a pantry shelf and makes a meal a little better.
Monetary, tax-deductible donations toward this project can be made to Compassion Ministries by mailing a check to 22 CR 389, Water Valley, MS 38965.
For more than five years, a steady portion of the food on Compassion Ministries’ shelves has come from Extra Table. That partnership has been dependable and quiet, just like the work itself.
Extra Table was founded in 2009 by Mississippi restaurateur Robert St. John, and they fight hunger a little differently. Instead of relying only on donated odds and ends, they raise funds to purchase new, healthy, shelf-stable food in bulk. Every month, that food is delivered to 66 partner food pantries and soup kitchens across Mississippi at no cost to them. No invoices. No guessing. Just consistent support.
The trucks still come every month like clockwork. March of the Mayors is simply the part where communities like ours get to add our own cans to the stack.
Each participating town collects its assigned item locally. Everything is then sorted and packed at a central location. After that, a share of what is gathered is sent back to each community. When Water Valley signed on, that meant Compassion Ministries will receive a portion of the food packed during this drive. It is not about one town winning over another. It is about all of us pulling together, then watching those boxes make their way back home.
In Water Valley, the collection sites will be Woodland Hills Baptist Church, Water Valley City Hall, Water Valley Police Department, First Baptist Church, FNB Bank and North Mississippi Herald. Monetary, tax-deductible donations to be used to purchase canned fruit for this projects may also be mailed to Compassion Ministries, 22 CR 389, Water Valley, MS 38965.
And Water Valley is already off to a strong start. Barrett Larson, a board member of Compassion Ministries, worked with Larson’s Cash Saver and BankFirst to provide a full pallet of canned peaches.
That is more than 2,000 cans. A pretty fine beginning.
You can also be part of the packing. The regional “Pack & Parade to the Pantries” Food Box Packing Party will be held March 3 from 9 a.m. until noon at the Tupelo Furniture Market, 1879 Coley Road in Tupelo. Danny Forsyth with Compassion Ministries is encouraging volunteers from Water Valley to make the trip and help with the packing. Please contact him at 662-473-7403 if you can participate. It is a chance to put hands to the work and see exactly how this effort comes together.
Compassion Ministries serves our neighbors all year long. This is one more way to keep those shelves steady.
So when you are making your grocery list, add a few extra cans of fruit. And if you have a morning to spare on March 3, consider riding up to Tupelo to pack a few boxes.
Around here, that is how Water Valley takes care of its own.
