March 28, 2024

Local veterans join war against hunger

While their days in the military may be behind them, local veterans are now attempting to aid another kind of army, except this one fights battles against hunger.

Newton American Legion Post 111 is holding a food drive for the entire month of September to help support the Newton Salvation Army Food Pantry. The idea was spurred after the Newton Daily News reported last week that the pantry was running so low on supplies that it could only keep providing services for a few more weeks.

The Legion had began forming a community involvement committee around three weeks ago.

“That committee heard about what was going on and just thought this was a great opportunity to start establishing our outreach to the rest of the community,” said Chris Chartier, one of committee’s co-founders.

Boxed macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, pasta, pasta sauce, canned tuna and chicken, cereal, oatmeal and cans of chicken noodle soup are the most needed things on the Salvation Army’s list.

“We are going to have someone on-call here from 4 to 8 p.m. They’ll be here to help carry it, help inventory it and obviously (offer) plenty of ‘thank yous,’” Chartier said.

This new committee is aiming to help out Jasper County residents in a number of ways and will announce additional events it will hold, said Chartier.

“We should have some events coming up in the future, within this month, to help push the cause. So watch the paper,” Chartier said.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6532 or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.