By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Overton Power District finished up its annual Christmas Food Drive last week. This is the 4th year for the drive which benefits the local foodbanks; and as time goes on the food drive continues to become more successful.
Each year, the OPD staff takes the food drive to Elementary schools in Moapa Valley and in Virgin Valley to encourage donations.
Ute Perkins and Grant Bowler elementary schools did a tremendous job this year of collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to Cappalappa Family Resource Center.
“We had a very good return,” said OPD representative, Keith Buchhalter. “It was even better than last year.”
Buchhalter said that every year the district has done this the staff has learned something new. This year the schools had the food already boxed up to be easily loaded to the local food bank. Each school brought in an average of enough food to fill 30 boxes.
To make the food drive fun, the OPD holds a drawing to give a brand new bicycle to one boy and one girl at each school.
The schools have the freedom to make their own competition out of the drawing. Perkins Elementary decided that, for every item of food the students brought in, the student could put his/her name on a raffle ticket.
The drawing for the bikes happened at all the schools on December 20. At Grant Bowler the winners of the bikes were Abby Leavitt and Brody Olive. Perkins winners were Gracie Herring and Keanu Parry.
Buchhalter explained that the district continues to do the food drive as part of a community outreach program.
“It helps motivate the community to participate,” he said. “This time of year people struggle with food in their pantry, and this way we can assist people and reach out to them.”
The district was able to collect 302 cases of food this year to take to Cappalappa Family Resource Center food bank.
