“It was a banner day for the Seward pantries,” Rotary Club volunteer Jon Kruse said.
The annual Can Care-a-Van, sponsored by Seward Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, GFWC Seward Woman’s Club, GFWC Seward Junior Women’s Club and KOLN-KGIN TV, collected over double the assigned goal of 3,000 pounds of food. The team collected the equivalent of 6,397.08 pounds of food and cash for the four local pantries.
“We like this program, as all the collection stays in Seward and goes to the local, area food pantries,” Clark Kolterman, project chair and Seward Rotary member, said.
Over 1,770 pounds of food and $2,313.54 in cash donations were received June 25. In the program, cash donations are calculated as $1 equals two pounds of food, arriving at the 6,397.08 calculation.
Each pantry served – Seward United Methodist Food Net, St. John Lutheran Church Christ’s Cupboard, St. Vincent de Paul Pantry and the Seward Blue Valley Community Action Program – also had volunteers on site to assist with the sorting, packing and delivery of the food products to their sites.
Seward Memorial Health Care Systems donated small “thank you” gifts to all who donated food, regardless of the contribution size, volunteer Donna Hendrickson of the Seward Rotary Club said.
Rotarian Greg Zabka said the town had some pre-collection challenges that helped add to the totals. For example, the Rotary Club’s goal was 101 pounts for its 101 years in existence. It finished with 275 pounds of food and cash.
The GFWC Seward Woman’s Club set a goal of 250 pounds for the USA 250 and finished with 287 pounds. Pat Coldiron at Liberty House had 80 pounds as a goal for her 80th birthday and brought 124 pounds of food. St. Andrew’s Episcolal Church set 76 pounds for its 76th anniversary as its goal and collected 84 pounds.
“Every group surpassed their pre-collection goal and look forward to next year,” Zabka said.
“We appreciate the support of the High School JAG class, who helped with the posters and the Seward Independent and SCCDP and Joanie Brecka and the SCCDP BUZZ, who assisted with our publicity,” Kiwanian Steve Hambek said. “We were busy all day and had people wanting to donate food the minute we opened. Summer is a difficult time for pantries, as collections are low, so, this is a major help.”
Attending the event were TV personalities, Jon and Taryn Vanderford of Lincoln, stars of the KOLN-KGIN TV show “Pure Nebraska” and they televised their Thursday show live from the Pac ‘N’ Save parking lot, with many local interviews. Mallory Connelly of KOLN-KGIN TV serves as the statewide coordinator for the event.
“The Seward Rotary Club collected the checks and cash funds and will write a check to each of the four pantries. It is not too late to donate to the cause,” volunteer Marla Johnson, Seward Rotary Treasurer, said.
Send donatinos to Seward Can Care-A-Van, Seward Rotary, Clark Kolterman, Chair, 660 East Pinewood, Seward, NE 68434.
