Promotion nets 546 bags of food for the Samaritan Center

The “Stuff A Truck” food drive - presented by the Hy-Vee grocery store to benefit the Samaritan Center - has completed its inaugural run.

The program collected $4,095 in pre-packed bags for the Samaritan Center, a local food aid agency.

Hy-Vee patrons had the opportunity to support the Samaritan Center by purchasing pre-packed bags of pantry items.

Customers had two bags from which to choose: a $10 sack filled with green beans, ravioli, soup and macaroni and cheese, cereal and diapers; and a $5 sack filled with baby wipes, peaches, peanut butter and spaghetti noodles.

Counted all together, 546 bags were collected.

The purchased sacks were loaded into a full-size tractor-trailer, donated by Chet Jac Industries. Two civic organizations, the Knights of Columbus and Jefferson City Rotary West, helped staff the event through the holiday weekend.

The Samaritan Center is a non-denominational interfaith support agency serving the Mid-Missouri area since 1987.

Over 1,100 families are served every month by the center.

While the Samaritan Center is the fourth largest in the state - in terms of persons served - it provides many services beyond food. The center also helps struggling families copes with energy bills, rent, clothing, prescription drug costs, health care, legal aid and tax assistance.

(Shannon Sibayan/News Tribune) Thomas Clay, a volunteer for the Samaritan Center, unloads bags filled with Hy-Vee pantry items on Tuesday. The Jefferson City Hy-Vee "Stuff A Truck" benefit collected 546 bags filled with good such as green beans, cereal, peanut butter and baby wipes, worth a total of just under $4,100.