Cape Coral drive collects food by the ton

  • 2015-12-02
Cape Coral community members banded together in November to collect food for those in need.

The Holiday Heroes Food Drive was sponsored by the Cape Coral Police Department. On Thursday, November 12, the department designated two area locations as collection sites for canned goods.

Residents of the city could take food to either the WalMart on Pine Island Road or the Walmart on Del Prado Boulevard. Drives like this often use flyer printing to advertise collection sites and to help people find drop-off areas.

Whatever the police did to promote their holiday food drive, it worked. People donated more than 5,000lb, or more than two and a half tons, of canned foods this year. The amount collected is nearly double that generated during the drive last year.

Sergeant Carlos Mena, the SWAT Team Leader for the police department, noted that "both locations did a tremendous job increasing our collection by 90 percent". He told that Cape Coral Daily Breeze that at each drop-off location, he noted people’s motivation and creativity.

The canned goods collected during the food drives will all be donated to the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida. Sam Kelly, the social media and online service coordinator for the Food Bank, expressed gratitude to the police department for the food drive.