Alton business offers incentive for food pantry donations

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ALTON — A lucky person who donates food to an Alton pantry this month will win a 60-inch television that a local business donated as an incentive for people to give even more.

“This is just something we feel is important to do, with all the needy people in the area,” said Bill Crane, owner of Alton Refrigeration Co., 2996 Homer Adams Parkway in Alton. “We want to help out as we can. I volunteer there on Fridays, and I found it to be a very good organization.”

Crane, a new board member at Crisis Food Center, 21 E. Sixth St., Alton, donated the Samsung brand television set for the center’s holiday food drive. He declined to give value of the set, but said it is on display at The Bank of Edwardsville, 4415 Martin Luther King Drive, Alton. People may drop off their food donations and enter the contest while examining the large television set.

Alton Refrigeration also is one of the food drop-off sites.

Everyone who donates at least four canned or other nonperishable food items at one of the sites by Dec. 30 will get a raffle ticket to fill out and leave at the food bins’ locations. The entry forms from all the locations will be combined at end of the food drive. A board member will draw the winner’s name Dec. 30 at Crisis Food Center.

Nick Kessinger, site manager of the pantry, delivered the drop-off bins to locally owned businesses in Alton and Godfrey on Tuesday. He may announce more locations in the near future.

“We hope this first time will be successful and we can do it again next year,” Kessinger said. “We think it will be a good way to get more businesses involved. Alton Refrigeration spearheaded it, he’s (Crane) a board member here and he has done things for us in the past. We thought it could create more of a competition” by raffling off a nice prize.

Kessinger said a large amount of donations will prevent the pantry from having to buy food to distribute to its clients through the Christmas season. “All items are great, but (boxed) macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly and canned vegetables are the items” the pantry can use most.

“We always tell people and foods are great, but the ones specified here are the best foods for us,” he said. “Right now, this time of year is pretty busy and we will be buying vegetables by February. On average, we serve 450 families within a month, sometimes it is closer to 500, sometimes 400. In November we provided food to almost 1,300 individuals.”

Kessinger said the pantry had been providing families with five days’ of groceries but lately have given them six days’ worth of food, one visit per month.

Reach Linda N. Weller at 618-208-6450 or on Twitter @Linda_Weller.