Beyond Amazing! The Greater Broome County Community Donates Large To Food-A-Bago

The 2023 Food-A-Bago food drive for Broome County CHOW has come to a successful conclusion. We closed the camper and the door to the back of a huge CHOW truck on Monday morning (October 6.)

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To say that we are thrilled with the amount of non-perishable food and monetary donations over the 8-day food drive, would be an understatement. Our community came through as always to help families in our area for the holidays.

Broome County CHOW is there to help anyone in need, Anyone could use their help at any time. A job loss, medical bills pile up, etc., you never know what life may throw at you, and it's comforting to know that organizations like Broome County CHOW exist to help in times of need.

One final shout-out to a few of the many people who stopped by over the weekend to donate - Hal, Emily, Lynn, Alex, Jim, Diane, Jennifer, Tony, Carol, Pete, Sarah, Doris, Payton, Sara, Marie, Jame, Alta, Rentz Auto and the Oxford Grange.

The Binghamton Fire Department stopped by with five grocery carts full of food, the Punishers Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club came through with a $400 donation, and the Guardian Belles Motorcycle Club donated $300 to Broome County CHOW. These are just a few of the many who came through to help families in our community.

Before I give the stats, I've always told our staff that this yearly food drive is a success when the first dollar is handed over and the first item of non-perishable food is placed in the CHOW truck. Any donation, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated.

Okay, first, the food. Non-perishable food items from boxes of pasta to canned fruits, bottles of water, baby items, and cereals, our community overfilled eight very large and deep bins. And believe me, those bins can take a lot of food!

The total weight came to 5514 pounds which comes out to about two and a quarter tons of food. That's a lot of food! But to be honest, the total weight is irrelevant. I say that because it's really more about the volume.

Cans and bottles weigh much more than boxes of pasta, cereal, and fruit cups for example. So, if we have a bigger volume of boxed foods versus canned and bottled food items, the bins of food would still be full but would weigh less than if we had more cans and bottles. Does that make sense?

Now, as for the monetary donations, this is really exciting! The Southern Tier community and beyond donated $11,055. Broome County CHOW can put together five meals for every dollar, so the number of meals from the monetary donations alone comes to 55,275!

So, there you have it. 23 years strong, and every year this community, both individuals and businesses alike, come through to help our own during the Food-A-Bago food drive for Broome County CHOW. We'll be back at it again for another eight days, beginning November 4th, 2024. We're looking forward to seeing you again!