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Recently I spent a day hanging out with former Marines who were collecting food to help feed the hungry in the area.
Members of the Marine Corps League and the Marine Corps Veterans Association spent a Saturday at tables at both entrances to the Marietta Walmart collecting food and cash donations for the Marietta Gospel Mission, 309 Lancaster St., which will use the donations to help those that need assistance in Washington County. The Roy Trembly Annual Fall Food Drive is a project they undertake yearly to do their part to help people in our communities. We are thrilled to be a small part of their efforts. It was great to see the generosity of shoppers as they dropped off bags of groceries into empty carts and folded cash into donation boxes.
Hunger in Washington County is real. The Gospel Mission serves 1,600 people every month. People can pick whatever they need. The mission operates on the generosity of citizens. It's one of several groups that help people who are struggling to feed their families.
Several other groups and organizations in Marietta also provide assistance to people through donations and in many cases free meals. Many school children get their only good meal at lunch every day. Marietta City Schools sends food home with some students on Fridays to assure they get enough to eat until they come back to school on Monday
Around 13.5% of American families experience food insecurity or lack access to an affordable, nutritious diet. One in 20 households report that they skip meals or reduce food intake because they cannot afford more food.
The former Marines started the drive several years ago. One is held in Marietta. The other one is in Parkersburg and is Saturday until 4 p.m. in the parking lot of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel at 519 Juliana St.
Old Man Rivers Mission will be splitting the donations with the Disabled American Veterans. If you were unable to get to the event in Marietta, stop by the Parkersburg one Saturday and help some people out who could really use it.
The Marines like to measure the success of the drive by how many pickup trucks they can fill by the end of the day. Their record is 11 trucks. Go to Parkersburg today and help them break that record.
Art smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com