DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Project Feed Our Neighbors, launched by Destination Door County at the end of October, aimed to support families affected by the government shutdown.
At Healthy Way Market, one of several collection sites for last year’s Feed Our Neighbors food drive, staff say the community came through in a big way with donations.
Watch below as we get an update on how Project Feed Our Neighbors went:
When the drive first started, NBC26 stopped at Healthy Way Market in Sturgeon Bay, and staff said the effort was off to a strong start.
"We were doing really well with it. People were really coming out in abundance and contributing to that," Trina Chaudoir, Front of House Manager at Healthy Way Market, said.
Chaudoir says the bins filled up faster than expected during the first few weeks of the drive.
"It seemed like at least once or twice a week we would have a bin full and sometimes even additional boxes," Chaudoir said.
Even when the pace slowed, Chaudoir says donations kept coming in, sometimes in creative ways.
"Sometimes people would donate cash to us and let us fill the bin for them," Chaudoir said.
Carol Jensen-Olson and a small group organized a photo project to collect donations for the food drive.
"We thought that a heart would really be a good way to show appreciation," Carol Jensen-Olson said.
She says the two-hour effort drew more than 100 people, who came and went at the Door County Granary to drop off donations.
"We probably filled up an entire pickup truck. It had an open box in the back, and we filled that," Jensen-Olson said.
Both Healthy Way Market and Jensen-Olson say the project highlighted just how willing the community is to step up when neighbors are in need.
