A Chamber Cares Holiday Drive collection box awaits donations at UNICO Bank, located at 1000 E. Main St., in Park Hills. The annual holiday collection will benefit the Central School District’s Backpack Program this year.
The sixth annual Chamber Cares Holiday Drive hosted by the Park Hills-Leadington Chamber of Commerce and Domino’s Pizza began this month, with donation sites located at businesses and organizations throughout the area.
For the past six years, the Park Hills-Leadington Chamber of Commerce has collected items and monetary donations to help local organizations at Christmas time.
This year, the chamber plans to focus on the Central School District’s Backpack Program.
The backpack food program provides nutritious, non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food to children to ensure they get enough food on weekends and holidays to avoid hunger when they cannot depend on school meals. By providing kids with the nutrients they need when they are away from school, they show up on Monday morning healthy and ready to learn.
Chamber Executive Director Tamara Coleman said that drive organizers decided to collect items for the school’s backpack program, given the many challenges students and their families have faced during this unpredictable year.
Food items needed for the program include juice boxes or shelf-stable milk, kid-friendly canned soup and pasta, pudding or fruit cups, plastic jars of peanut butter (16 ounce), individual snacks, granola bars, single-serve cereal, and tuna and chicken kits.
