MOUNT VERNON – Standing in a warehouse at Blubaugh Body and Frame on Monday afternoon, Joy Harris stared at the nine pallets of food in front of her. As executive director of Knox County Interchurch Social Services, her organization will receive a portion of this amount (with much more to come) after all is set and done at Saturday’s Food for the Hungry drive, which donates truckloads of canned and boxed food to her organization and the Mount Vernon Salvation Army.

She was asked to articulate how she felt, looking at the food that will soon nourish so many who come to her food pantries. After a few moments, she finally found the word.

“Thankful,” she said, with a smile that told the whole story. “That’s about all I can say.”

Harris joined representatives from The Salvation Army in accepting a portion of the drive’s total donations on Monday, which are being stored in the warehouse until Saturday. The nine pallets present were donated just from Mount Vernon elementary schools, St. Vincent de Paul School and Mount Vernon Middle School. Mount Vernon High School’s donations will be presented at Saturday’s drive.

Food for the Hungry Coordinator Lisa Mazzari could not estimate the monetary value of the nine pallets of donated food, nor could she say how many pounds of food were present, but it took up the better half of the warehouse’s back wall.

Longtime FFTH board member Marcy Rinehart estimated that the total amount of food collected at the drive will likely double that amount.

“We’re very thankful for the community and for everyone that works for Food for the Hungry, pulling all this together,” Harris said. “Because honestly, we could not serve the people that we serve without everyone’s support.”

Collections from the area’s elementary school students are coordinated by two local sororities: Psi Iota Xi and Delta Kappa Gamma. Psi Iota Xi handles the Central Knox County collection, which was presented on Monday, and Delta Kappa Gamma takes care of the Greater Knox County collection, which comprises of Centerburg, Danville, East Knox and Fredericktown schools, along with the Knox County Learning Center.

Donations from the Greater Knox County schools will be distributed directly to Interchurch food pantries in each specific location.

Last year, elementary students across the county donated 9,711 food items, or just under eight truckloads worth of food. The donations were valued at just over $12,000.

Psi Iota Xi representative Cindy Doolittle gave thanks on Monday to all elementary students who contributed to such a worthy cause, and said she was impressed once again by this year’s donation total.

“We’re feeling great. We really want to thank the kids, the teachers, the families, for supporting this project and helping their neighbors out during this season,” Doolittle said. “We’re very happy with what we’re seeing and every year the kids really do a great job for us, so we’re sure we’re going to be very proud of them, just like we are every year.”

Linda Owens, representative for Delta Kappa Gamma, was impressed by the sheer amount donated by the area’s elementary students. She said it is essential to teach children about the importance of giving, and that doing so can benefit Knox County in the future.

“As these children learn to be good citizens, it also gets them ready to be our future leaders. And if we don’t instill values in them now, they’re not going to have the values to carry on what Knox County has,” Owens said. “I’m not originally from Knox County, so this has been very eye-opening to me, to see what a small county can do, and have such a wide impact on people.

“And if we can get this all over the state and all over the United States, you know, what a better country we would have. These are our future leaders, so let’s applaud them. Let’s get them the encouragement they need to be our leaders.”

The food in the warehouse on Monday had been transported there by volunteers from The Salvation Army. According to volunteer Jerry Scott, he and others drove pickup trucks around Mount Vernon to pick up the food. They then boxed it and wrapped it in shrink wrap before placing it on the pallets. The warehouse is insulated and heated, which will prevent the food from freezing before the drive.

On Saturday, Louis Blubaugh (president of Blubaugh Body and Frame) will use a forklift to take the pallets down to Memorial Theatre.

Last year, Food for the Hungry raised over $240,000 and collected over 28 truckloads of food. All donations stay in Knox County, benefiting the local branches of Interchurch Social Services and The Salvation Army. The drive culminates on Saturday with an eight-hour live radio and web broadcast.