Double R Communications Elementary School Food Drive brings in more than 11 tons of food to Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry

SAFFORD — In a time of economic uncertainty and prices spiraling upward week after week, Gila Valley school children stepped up to help community members in need.

The Double R Communications Elementary School Food Drive produced 23,190 pounds of non-perishable food items for Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry, all of which were delivered to the food bank Tuesday.

“Short term, (this) means I can meet crisis needs for our community, right now,” said Bonnie Dalzine, executive director for Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry. “Long term, this drive should last (us) until the very first week of October next year.”

Dalzine said the recent federal government shutdown resulted in Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry helping 120 households, which depleted the food bank’s shelves and necessitated emergency funding from United Way and Graham and Greenlee Counties to keep the food bank open.

A number of groups volunteered to unload and sort the food collected in the Double R Communications Elementary School Food Drive, including the Eastern Arizona College women’s basketball team. Pictured are Esmeralda Enriquez, left, and head coach Angelica de Paulo.
– David Bell Photo/Gila Valley Central

Children were asked to bring as many non-perishable food items as possible to class, and the class with the most items in each school won a Domino’s pizza party, cupcakes from Creative Custom Cakes and a trophy from Trophies N’ Tees. The visit from the PHI Air Medical helicopter was canceled due to fog.

The winning classes combined to collect 10,189 items.

“Congratulations to the winning elementary school classes for the food drive,” said Reed Richins, owner of Double R Communications. “Crazy amount of food these kids brought; classes of 20 bring in 1,200-1,300 cans of food.”

The largest donation was 2,693 items collected by Mr. Giles class at Dan Hinton Accommodation School.

Mr. Giles class at Dan Hinton Accommodation School was the big winner in the Double R Communications Elementary School Food Drive, collecting 2,693 non-perishable food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Volunteers who helped unload and sort the food for the pantry included missionaries with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Safford High School’s National Honor Society and Interact/Just Serve Club, the Graham County Chamber of Commerce, Double R Sound, and the Eastern Arizona College women’s basketball team.

Double R Communications — operators of Kat Kountry 94.5, Sunny 102.3, News-Talk 1230 AM KATO and Valley Vision, along with GilaValleyCentral.net — has been coordinating the food drive for more than 20 years; and this year’s sponsors include Domino’s, Creative Custom Cakes, Trophies N’ Tees, PHI Air Medical, Sparklight, Valley Furniture, Macks Auto Parts/Napa, Open Loop, American Southwest Credit Union, the Graham County Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties.

The winning classes at each elementary school were:

Ms. Dillman’s class at Solomon Elementary School collected 1,159 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Miss Roark’s class at Jack Daley Primary School collected 1,096 non-perishable food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

The students in Mrs. Smith’s class at Dorothy Stinson School collected 1,118 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Mrs. Thatcher’s class at Triumphant Learning Center collected 398 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

465 food items were collected by Mrs. Verdugo’s class at Discovery Plus Academy.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Mrs. Gasca’s class at Thatcher Elementary School collected 979 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Ms. Olmedo’s class at Ruth Powell School collected 1,347 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Ms. Shaw’s class at Pima Elementary School collected 497 items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

Ms. Valdez’s class at Lafe Nelson School collected 437 food items.
– Kat Kountry Photo

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