A community-wide food drive by the Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative (GVTC) Foundation called its food drive a success Monday after collecting more than a ton of donated non-perishable items for Canyon Lake-based Habitat for Safe Seniors.
The 5,000 non-perishable food items — plus donations of cash and grocery vouchers — will help stock Habitat for Safe Seniors’ food pantry to meet the rising demand for food over the holidays, according to a GVTC press release.
“This event far exceeded our expectations,” said Ola Armstrong, president of The GVTC Foundation, GVTC Communications’ charitable-giving arm. “It shows we have some wonderful, wonderful people at GVTC and in the community we serve. The foundation’s motto is ‘Just plain caring,’ and people really demonstrated that today. Their donations are going to help a lot of needy people.”
Habitat for Safe Seniors provides nutrition, home safety repairs, environmental improvement and companionship to citizens over 65 in the Canyon Lake/Comal County area.
Businesses and organizations, including Bulverde Nutrition, First State Bank of Canyon Lake, the Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce, Church in the Wildwood at Canyon Lake, Kiddie Kollege Daycare, Pedernales Electric, Security State Bank & Trust of Canyon Lake, Smithson Valley High School, Startz Café, Super S Foods and Wells Fargo Bank of Canyon Lake, also participated in the drive.
The donation comes at a critical time, said Rhonda Savage, Habitat for Safe Seniors’ executive director. Demands on the group’s food bank have doubled during the current economic downturn.
“This is the single biggest food drive done on behalf of our organization,” Savage said. “We’re grateful for it, and we’re happy that it’s all come from local people. This is a fantastic way to make sure no one in our community goes hungry. We don’t turn anyone away.”
The GVTC Foundation regularly assists Habitat for Safe Seniors with donations of both time and resources. In June, it presented the group with a $5,000 donation that was matched by San Antonio’s Kronkosky Foundation.
