Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
VOLUNTEERS PASS donated food items to Michigan State Police Community Service Trooper Jerry Mazurek, in the truck, Wednesday as the Wakefield Post distributed the 23,760 pounds collected in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Wakefield - It's been another banner year for the Wakefield Michigan State Police Post's annual food drive.
The post - with the help of volunteers from around Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota who contacted the post about a community service opportunity - distributed 21,760 pounds of food to food banks across the Gogebic Range Tuesday, including in Ironwood and Bessemer. The post also collected 2,000 pounds of food in Ontonagon for food banks in that county, according to post secretary Kristina Recla.
"The public was awesome. Our citizens and local business leaders had a great turnout," F/Lt. Don Horn, the post commander, said. "Hopefully, the pantries will be overfilled."
The post has bested its collection totals each of the last three years, and Horn expects the 23,760 pounds collected in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties will allow the post to retain the honor of highest weight collected in the state for the third straight year.
Last year's collection of 22,071 pounds was more than the rest of the state's 29 posts combined, Horn said - putting the post in good shape to "three-peat" this year.
The post collected food donations from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2, along with cash donations that were used to make bulk food purchases.
Along with helping those in need, Recla said the drive was also a good opportunity for the troopers to get out into the community and interact with the public in a different way than usual.
