State Sen. Mike McGuire’s 8th Annual Holiday Food Drive

State Sen. Mike McGuire’s 8th Annual Holiday Food Drive Showdown to benefit Food for People ended today, and the outcome was huge. 

“I got to tell you, it is amazing, it’s one of the best days of the year because we live in such a generous community,” Sen. McGuire said. 

This annual drive is to help Food for People stock up for the coming months, especially with this year’s increase of food insecurity

“They actually have a 30% increase in demand from 2022 to 2023, there are three major drivers for that: federal pandemic stimulus dollars have ended, high inflation has hit households across this country right here at home on the north coast, and we’re also seeing rising rents,” Sen. McGuire said. “That is a perfect storm for some of our most vulnerable working families and seniors and that’s why we’ve seen such a significant demand.”

Each year students across the county raise thousands of pounds of food and this year, they might break some records.

“I firmly believe that we are going to have the biggest year that we’ve ever had today,” Sen. McGuire said. “We’ll have the final numbers here in the coming 2 hours, but couldn’t be more excited.”

The school with the most food and funds raised will be given the “Golden Can Award,” this is a trophy made up of golden cans. The winning school will also earn $750 that will be donated to go toward their next school dance.

“I get emotional talking about this, because the students have stepped up, it’s really inspiring to see these students work so incredibly hard and we raise enough food and funds,” Sen. McGuire said. “It’s the biggest food drive here on the north coast and we raise enough food and enough funds to be able to cover the demand, even with the increase through May 30th.”