Two large donations have pushed the 26th annual Stuff A Truck food drive to a record-breaking level of donations.
PGA of America and Wolf Financial Advisory combined to donate $25,000 to the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency on Friday at Roger’s Foodland in St. Joseph.
The two donations took the total cash donated to over $36,000, in addition to the food donations collected at Rogers and the additional donations still to be collected from area schools.
“It’s incredible,” said SMCAA Executive Director Kim Smith Oldham. “The community is awesome, and the last three years the community has really stepped up. This just shows another time the community has really stepped up.”
The SMCAA provides necessary food and personal care items to thousands of individuals and hundreds of families throughout in Berrien, Cass and Van Buren Counties. They also offer utility assistance, rent assistance, supportive housing, home repair, crisis response, economic security and weatherization programs for low-income individuals.
Every year, the Stuff-A-Truck drive has been hosted by Mid-West Family of Southwest Michigan and Y-Country. The event was started in 1996 by Mid-West Family President Dave Doetsch, and the event has become a flagship of Y-Country.
“It was their first time wrapping their arms around the community,” said Doetsch, of Y-Country. “The audience has just always been amazing in supporting them. … and [Mid-West Family] has the ability to serve the community in this way, because we have that megaphone and that audience.”
Robert Wolf, owner of Wolf Financial Advisory, said he is excited to contribute, and when he saw the PGA donation, it inspired him.
“I just felt so moved, that we’re bumping our donation from $10,000 to $15,000,” Wolf said. “It’s a banner day for the [SMCAA], and the real winners are our community.”
Donations will continue to be accepted through Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon at Roger’s Foodland. Donations also can be made at 975ycountry.com/stuff-a-truck/ or by scanning the QR codes below.
