Pantry in the Park food drive grows - Loveland Reporter-Herald

A few years ago, then-Centennial Elementary School student Makya Finke saw something that would be difficult for anyone to see.

“There were these two kids and they couldn’t afford food and so the school gave them food every Thursday,” Finke, 10, said. “And it just inspired me to give food to the people who couldn’t really afford it.”

It wasn’t long after that Finke, who will start sixth grade in the fall, started Love 4 Larimer, a fundraising campaign that aims to raise food and money for the Food Bank for Larimer County. Finke says the campaign has raised just over 2,000 pounds of food for the food bank, a number she hopes to see grow by 1,500 when she hosts her second annual Pantry in the Park community food drive event on Saturday.

This is the second year for the event, which this time invites Loveland families to bring six nonperishable food items to the park in order to receive a free hot dog or pulled pork sandwich picnic lunch. The drive runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Finke’s first annual Pantry in the Park was held last year at Mehaffey Park and attended by 200 people who contributed around 1,000 pounds of food. However, Finke and her mom, Sarah, decided to move the event to Dwayne Webster Veterans Park in order to hold it in a more central and highly-trafficked location.

They’ve also expanded the event by adding a silent auction and raffle, with all of the proceeds going to the Food Bank, and are collaborating with the NoCo Secret Samaritan to offer a greater variety of toys for kids and gift cards for adults during the treasure hunt that is also open to attendees.

“The NoCo Secret Samaritan made a very generous donation so we will have hundreds of different things,” Makya said.

Those additions came, Sarah said, after she and Makya saw the success of last year’s event and the potential for it to grow and be expanded. The drive is also a great way for kids to learn about helping the less fortunate in the community, which Sarah said is one of Love 4 Larimer’s goals.

After the drive, Finke and her mother will load the food into boxes and bags and load them into her dad’s truck (“usually it fits,” she said) and transport it to the food bank’s distribution center in north Loveland, where they have become regulars.

“It feels pretty good to know that I helped so many people already be able to have food on their tables and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Makya said.

Those who cannot make the event, Makya said, can still contribute by visiting any food bank location and notifying staff that their donation is for the Love 4 Larimer campaign so that it can be counted toward the campaign’s total.

Still, Makya said she hopes to get a large turnout at Saturday’s event, which she says is her favorite part of her campaign.

“I like Pantry In The Park because it’s more of a community event because I want just my friends but people in Loveland to come over and help out,” she said.

If You Go

What: Pantry in the Park.

When: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Dwayne Webster Veterans Park, Eisenhower Boulevard and West 13th Street, Loveland.

Cost: Donation of six nonperishable food items requested.