Hope Hero Shoutout!

70,494 lbs!

That’s the total weight of the 96,653 cans of food collected by the students, staff and parents during CANopoly — Saint Thomas Aquinas’ food drive to benefit Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. The impact? Even larger.

All of the food from Aquinas’ annual food drive is taken by semi-truck loads to Catholic Charities’ Hope Distribution Center warehouse. From there, the food is shelved and allocated to eight food pantries throughout a 21-county service area, in addition to two mobile resource buses which serve rural communities.

“Aquinas’ food drive impacts our ability to feed hungry families beginning now throughout the summer months,” says Denise Ogilvie, Vice President, Outreach and Grants Management. “We, and those we serve, are incredibly blessed by the students’ enthusiasm and efforts.”

Catholic Charities provides food assistance to individuals and families over 5,000 times per week. “Food assistance is often the gateway to the many other programs and services we offer,” adds Ogilvie.