The annual It’s Spooky to Be Hungry drive has not reached its collection goal, Golden Harvest reported Wednesday. Donations will be accepted the remainder of the week before the food bank makes a final tally Saturday morning.
“Our goal is within reach,” event coordinator Millie Robinson said in a news release. “We still need your help to get there.”
The drive’s goal was 160,000 pounds of food, Robinson previously told The Augusta Chronicle. In 2011, the drive collected 153,215 pounds of food and $56,935.
The election year and weak economy contributed to the downturn in donations, according to the news release.
In October, volunteers for Golden Harvest walked door to door in more than 200 neighborhoods collecting bags of nonperishable food.
An additional 200 businesses, churches, schools and civic organizations collected food in October.
The Halloween-theme food drive was organized by Evelyn Weil Brown in 1992 in Rochester, Minn., according to Golden Harvest. She moved to the Augusta area in 1995 and brought It’s Spooky to Be Hungry to Columbia County.
Golden Harvest distributed more than 14.2 million pounds of groceries to a network of more than 400 food pantries and soup kitchens in fiscal year 2011.
