Newton Hy-Vee partners with Salvation Army for food drive

The fight is on.

The local Salvation Army is teaming up with Newton Hy-Vee for a new competition: The Great Hunger Fight. The week-long food drive pits the Newton Hy-Vee and Salvation Army against the Marshalltown Hy-Vee and Salvation Army.

Rick Morr, Newton Hy-Vee store director, said the local grocery store is preparing for its annual Springtime Party next week, April 29-May 5. His main goal for the week is to get involved with the community, and one way he decided to do this was incorporating a little “friendly competition.”

Captain Janelle Cleaveland of the Newton Salvation Army liked the idea when Morr first mentioned it to her. She is friends with the Marshalltown Salvation Army Captain Pam Kasten and got her onboard with the idea. It was up to Morr to convince Marshalltown Hy-Vee Store Director Ric Anderson, who did agree to the competition, so with both sides up to the challenge, the inaugural Great Hunger Fight was born.

“We call it the Great Hunger Fight because it’s captain versus captain and Rick versus Ric,” Cleaveland said. “I think it will be good and exciting ... It’s all for a good cause.”

Morr proposed the extra competition element to the food drive to add a fun aspect and hopefully get better results. He thought the head-to-head competition with Marshalltown was a “natural fit” since they are fairly close to Newton.

Both Morr and Cleaveland were excited for the competition and hope everyone will be able to get involved. Cleaveland said both she and Morr are very competitive, and they don’t want to lose.

“Marshalltown is bigger than us, but we have more spirit. We’re going to beat them,” Cleaveland said.

Morr shared her sentiment, “Marshalltown is a bigger community than us, but we feel like we can take them.”

So what are the stakes? The captain and store director in the city who collects the least amount of food items gets a pie in the face. But Morr isn’t afraid of the potential pie penalty, his focus remains on the goal.

“It doesn’t matter to me. If we hit the goal, we’re winners either way,” he said.

In honor of the 65th anniversary of Hy-Vee being in Newton, Morr has set a goal of collecting 6,500 nonperishable food items. Those wishing to donate during the Great Hunger Fight can leave their donated items in a designated area at the front of the Newton store beginning April 29 through May 5. The items will be counted daily and loaded onto the Salvation Army truck, which will be parked on site throughout the week.

Morr said the idea of including a food drive as part of the Springtime Party was to help raise awareness the food pantry is always in need of donations, not just around the holidays.

“It becomes an afterthought when it’s not the holiday season, and it’s really unfortunate,” he said.

The timing of the event is perfect for the food pantry as the pantry’s stock tends to be depleted during the summer months. Cleaveland hopes the event will help fill their shelves before that happens.

“We’re very thankful for the community support for the food pantry all year round. I know that this will be successful because we have a great community that supports us,” Cleaveland said.

For more information about the Great Hunger Fight or any of the other events happening at Hy-Vee during the Springtime Party, visit the store’s Facebook page.

Contact Pam Pratt at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or pampratt@newtondailynews.com