MOUNT VERNON — Lisa Mazzari believes Knox County shines brightest when the chips are down.
As Food For The Hungry’s executive director, she’s seen it first-hand.
The community raised $424,030 and collected 15.3 truckloads of food for the drive in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It marked a record for the 41-year-old grassroots initiative, which includes companies, agencies and organizations from across the county.
This year, with inflation in the U.S. reaching its highest point since 1981, Knox County stepped up to the plate once again.
The community raised $353,367 and collected 20.7 truckloads of food for those in need – marking the second-highest donation total in the drive’s history. All of the money, and food, will stay in Knox County to support local service initiatives.
“We have all just experienced this pandemic, and it just amazes me that here we are – that we’re still in it to help our own community,” Mazzari said. “I’m humbled and I’m astonished by the outpouring of love and support that we continue to see in our community towards those that are facing adversity.”
2022: $353,367**
2021: $278,841
2020: $424,030*
2019: $275,178
2018: $281,845
*all-time record
**second all-time
This year’s drive began Nov. 1, 2022 and ended Dec. 31. Community members and local institutions hosted events to benefit the cause, including everything from concerts and auctions to turkey trots and school drives. Individuals were also able to donate privately, either in-person or online.
Drive day took place Dec. 9. Donations poured in from across the county as WNZR and WMVO co-hosted an eight-hour live broadcast from the Knox Memorial, documenting Knox County’s generosity as the total continued to climb.
FFTH had raised $274,000 by the end of the day. In the weeks that followed, donations continued to stockpile, surpassing 2017’s then-record total of $313,000. FFTH Marketing Director Olivia Greenich-Stern announced the final total Tuesday.
“We set that goal and it’s like, ‘This is our goal?!'” Mazzari said, audibly gasping. “Because everybody’s going through something. Everyone has been impacted by what we’ve seen in the last few years.
“And it is just incredible. We all still walk away with that idea that there’s something more important than just ourselves.”
The final donation total will be divided four ways:
— 38% will go to the Salvation Army of Mount Vernon
— 38% will go to Interchurch Social Services (which has offices in Centerburg, Danville, Fredericktown and Mount Vernon)
— 16% will go to Food For The Hungry’s grant program, which benefits smaller, more targeted food-assistance initiatives (there were 25 grant recipients this year)
— 8% will be used to cover Food For The Hungry’s annual organizational costs
The organizations on the receiving end of Food For The Hungry donations will use them in a variety of ways. While some funds will be used to stock food pantry shelves and maintain snack/meal programs, others will be used to provide emergency services for clients – such as financial aid (including rent and utility assistance), medical transportation and prescription assistance.
The goal of the annual drive is to help fight food insecurity and make essential services available for Knox County’s most at-risk individuals. It began in 1982, when Charlie and Carol Kilkenny led a grassroots effort that holiday season to help those affected by a factory layoff in Mount Vernon.
Forty-one years later, the drive continues, serving as one of Knox County’s signature events – a community effort every year to reduce food insecurity and improve the quality of life for local individuals in need.
Mazzari, who has been involved with the drive for more than two decades, said the experience never fails to amaze her.
“This drive is just … wow. To be a part of it is just incredible. I’m so thankful for this community – a community that I left at 18 years of age and thought, ‘I’m never gonna live at home. I’m never coming back here,'” said Mazzari, who moved back to her hometown of Danville with her husband, Joe, 35 years ago.
“And boy, I’m sure glad God had other plans for me. Because I just don’t think there are many places out there that can say they have what we have here in Knox County.”
FFTH has now set two new fundraising records in the last three years. Both occurred during points of national instability.
“That 2020 figure came right on the cusp of the pandemic, and we saw so many people that were worried for their friends and neighbors, and we were all shocked and panicked and uncertain as to what the future held,” Mazzari said.
“And here we are, on hopefully the flip-side of the pandemic, and people are still showing that they matter, that people matter, and that people matter more than (one’s personal finances) sometimes. That you’re willing to give from what you have to make sure somebody else doesn’t go without. It’s just remarkable.
“And this time, people could have closed their eyes and closed their heart and said, ‘I’ve gotta take care of my own family, I can’t take care of someone else.’ But that’s not what we see here. We see a community that just keeps giving and keeps reminding us that we live in the best place in the world.”
Mazzari hopes this year’s effort will have a ripple effect. She hopes it will further galvanize the community to embrace the spirit of giving.
“We may not know who they are, but I pray everyone who is touched by those donated funds will be uplifted and encouraged, to know there are people here in their own backyard who truly care – and that this is such a great place, that people care and want to make sure things get better. That they want to see them overcome their hardships,” Mazzari said.
“I just want to encourage people, even those on the receiving end of that money, to pay it forward. Do something kind of someone else, as this community is doing for you. Even something as simple as a smile can make someone’s day.”
Knox Pages is a member of Food For The Hungry’s Partner Board, alongside BAS Broadcasting, WNZR, the Mount Vernon News, Spectrum, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Kenyon College, WRP CPAs, Knox County Career Center, Psi Iota Xi Sorority and Park National Bank. The board, which governs and directs the annual fundraising campaign, also includes two at-large members.
