A competition between organizations working on Intermountain Power’s new natural gas and green hydrogen plant yielded big results for Central Utah Food Sharing, a food bank in Delta.
Cupboards were pretty bare before about 15 contractors and construction workers showed up Friday afternoon to drop off more than four tons of food stuffs, all benefitting Millard County’s neediest ahead of the holidays.
Multiple, loaded-down pickup trucks and a flatbed trailer packed with pallets of food carried 11,526 individual items, weighing some 8,800 pounds.
That’s not all, the group of IPP contractors made a cash donation amounting to $23,020 to carry the food bank through the holidays.
Bonnie Bendixen, a volunteer at the food bank, said the food bank was seeing more and more need, running out of some items fairly quickly. She said the food bank typically serves about 15 families at a time, though during a recent evening food pickup service, more than 35 families showed up.
The competition to fill the food bank was between employees of TIC (The Industrial Company), IPP Renewed, the power plant itself, Shields Cleaning, and MJ Electric, said Matt Kolste, in charge of community relations for IPP Renewed.
He said employees started gathering food on Oct. 31.
MJ Electric won the competition, he said. “The power plant tries to help the food bank and do a food drive every year,” Kolste said. “This year they decided to turn it into a competition and get the contractors involved.”
Next on their list is participating with the sheriff’s office in Sub for Santa, a holiday program that matches needy families with businesses and members of the community.
The effort last Friday lasted well over an hour, just unloading food and stocking the food bank’s storage bins, freezers and outside storage units.
Four volunteers directed workers where to put up all the food.
Gayle Cason, a long-serving volunteer at the distribution center, said some residents don’t even know there’s a food bank in Delta—it’s located just next door to the county building along W 100 S. It’s open normally from 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Mondays, though volunteers have also been opening in the evenings to help those who work during the day.
“If they need help and don’t know when to come, they can just call,” Cason said.
Two phone numbers are taped to the center’s back door for those in need of help, she added.
Cason said December is expected to be particularly busy and so the donations are needed now.
Also, the food bank could use more volunteers. So anyone wishing to donate their time during the holidays is encouraged to call the food bank or show up during opening hours and lend a hand.
