Ritenour’s 2024 Food Drive Collects over 3.5 Tons of Food for Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry
Ritenour’s 2024 food drive again showed the giving spirit of the holiday season, donating more than 3.5 tons of food to the Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry on Nov. 25.
This year, for the first time in recent memory, Marion Elementary led the district in food collection, followed by Ritenour Middle School and Iveland Elementary. District staff and families donated a total of 6,850 items of food and 335 personal care items.
The Overland Public Works Department employees picked up hundreds of boxes of food and toiletries from Ritenour schools and delivered them to the Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry, located at the Ritenour Husky Support Center, 9303 Midland Blvd. The unique food pantry, which offers a grocery store shopping experience, provides free fresh, frozen foods and shelf-stable items to more than 1,400 Ritenour households that experience food insecurity each month.
“I am humbled by the generosity of Ritenour families and staff during their monthlong food drive,” said Angela Gabel, executive director of the Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry. “The amount of food that is delivered to our pantry just before Thanksgiving from this food drive will keep our shelves stocked for several weeks, and that means we will be able to serve more families in need, especially during the holiday season.”
The district’s annual food drive for Ritenour Co-Care started back in 1982 when Ritenour Middle School teacher Ken Crowder started the collection as a class project. That year, the district collected 2,000 cans of food. Although Crowder has since retired from the district, he continues to be fully vested in the project as a board member of Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry and president of the Overland Neighborhood Preservation Commission.
In addition to collecting food, Ritenour students in grades 3-12 are participating in a math fundraiser through Imagine Math that benefits Ritenour Co-Care. For completing math problems, students earn “think points,” and for every 5,000 points, Imagine Math donates $1 to Co-Care. As of Nov. 25, students raised $454. The top three schools are Hoech Middle School, Ritenour High School and Marion. The fundraiser will end on Dec. 13.
