Maurice's of Macomb, two Macomb schools, a local social justice organization and a service club are doing their part to help others during the holiday season.
Every Wednesday through Dec. 17, Maurice's is handing out 15 percent coupons to shoppers who bring in kid-friendly nonperishable food items, which will be donated to The Good Food Pantry in Macomb. Items needed include applesauce and dried fruit, Easy Mac, soups, shelf stable milk and juice, instant oatmeal, granola bars, pudding cups, instant Ramen, etc.
During the first week of December, the Macomb High School and Macomb Middle School are embarking on the friendly competition, 'Giving Games Food Drive' to see which school can bring in the highest number (in pounds) of nonperishable food items for The Good Food Pantry. Bring the nonperishable items to the Macomb High School concessions stand on the following dates: 10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 6 (MHS Swimming Invitational) and 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6 (MHS boys basketball).
The local activist group, Indivisible of West Central Illinois (IWCI), is collecting nonperishable food, as well as feminine hygiene products (which will be placed in public restrooms – gas stations, etc.), for distribution at a variety of locations throughout Macomb (see Community Resource Map link below). Donations can be brought to Chandler Park between 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Cash donations for the feminine hygiene programs are also accepted at the Thursday rallies. The group has also put together a community resources map, available at tinyurl. com/CommResourceMap, which is designed to help community members locate food banks, donation drop-offs, public access gardens and more.
'We wanted to make sure people had access to a variety of resources in one place, and make the information available to those who not only need services, but also who want to donate to organizations in town,' said Nick Guarino of the IWCI.
Macomb's Noon Rotary Club also is donating $500 each, for a total of $4,000, to a variety of local services, including The Good Food Pantry, Macomb Salvation Army, The Crossing Food Pantry, Bushnell Area Ministerial Association (BAMA) Food Pantry, Industry United Methodist Church, The Colchester Area Gathering Place, WIU Food Pantry and Loaves & Fishes of Macomb.
