OKDHS and Feed The Children Hold Statewide Food Drive for Make A Difference Day

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The Oklahoma Department of Human Services, the County Administrators Association and Feed The Children have joined together to hold the state’s largest food drive for Oklahoma families.
Feed The Children, an international food relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, will provide a semi-trailer truck full of food and personal care items for donations raised by OKDHS staff.

“Each truck contains 400 boxes of food, along with 400 boxes of personal care items, which will provide for a family of four for a week,” said Cindy Clayton, president, County Administrators Association.

Each OKDHS human services center statewide is collecting monetary donations, holding fundraisers and emptying penny jars to raise funds. FTC has pledged to match the number of truckloads each community and county raises.

“We anticipate collecting enough money for more than 12 trucks,” said Mike Jackson, OKDHS Muskogee County director.

The food and personal care items will be distributed Thursday, Oct. 25, and Friday, Oct. 26, to celebrate Make a Difference Day, Oct. 27.

“The counties will decide how the food is distributed,” said Jackson, “whether it’s to the local food pantry, mission, food kitchen or to families. The funds stay where they’re raised.”

Created by USA Weekend magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event that focuses on celebrating neighbors helping neighbors. Each year USA Weekend chooses 10 projects from around the country to spotlight in the magazine.

“It appears that our project may be one of the ones profiled for the national Make A Difference Day event,” said Jackson. “We see this as a wonderful opportunity to highlight OKDHS staff and their work in the communities across the state.”

To make a donation to the project, contact the county director in your local human services center.

Feed The Children and the County Administrators Association, a non-profit organization comprised of OKDHS county directors from across the state, are sponsoring the event.

###