Hickory, NC – In its 22nd year, the 2020 Susan L. Coleman Castle of Cans has set a new record of donations with its virtual fundraising campaign. The campaign came in at 222% over its goal of $5000, with a total of $11,066 collected. These funds will provide 77,462 pounds, more than 38.7 tons, of food to meet the hunger needs of our community.
Castle of Cans chairperson Carleen Crawford expressed her sincere appreciation to everyone who donated, promoted, and helped in any way to help make the campaign so overwhelmingly successful. “This was a different year for the Castle of Cans as we shifted to a virtual fundraising platform due to COVID-19,” said Crawford. “We had a smaller but strong and mighty team this year, including public and private schools, churches, and community organizations. Working together with our generous community members, they broke their record of giving, for the second year in a row, by not only helping us make our goal for this year but exceed it by more than double.”
A very special thank you to Food Lion. Food Lion donated $3000, which will purchase approximately 21,000 pounds and equals 10.5 tons of food, through its Food Lion Feeds Program. This is the fifth year that Food Lion has supported the drive with a large donation, and we could not be more grateful for their generosity and support. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has donated more than 500 million meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donating 1 billion more meals by 2025. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com.
We also truly appreciate our 2020 community team members: Elizabeth Farris, Hickory Christian Academy, Hickory Day School, Hickory High School Key Club, River Bend Middle School, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, and Viewmont Elementary School. The Hickory Christian Academy team donated the most overall with $2785 equaling 19,495 pounds of food! Hickory Day School was close behind with $1890 equaling 13,230 pounds. St. Albans Episcopal Church donated $990 equaling 6,930 pounds, Viewmont Elementary School donated $532 equaling 3724 pounds, River Bend Middle donated $269 equaling 1883 pounds, Hickory High School Key Club and Elizabeth Ferris each donated $200 equaling 1400 pounds. We are also grateful for the many donations from individuals in our community Please visit our campaign page to see all donor recognitions: https://p2p.onecause.com/shmetrolina2020/team/castle-of-can
Eight local agencies that feed our neighbors are the campaign recipients: The Corner Table of Newton, Eastern Catawba County Cooperative Christian Ministries, Exodus Homes, The Family Care Center, Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministries, The Hickory Soup Kitchen, The Salvation Army, and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Castle of Cans is the community service component of Hickory’s Oktoberfest. The annual food drive is sponsored by the Hickory Downtown Development Association and coordinated by St. Alban’s Episcopal Church.
L to R: Carleen Crawford, the Castle of Cans chairperson, Brittany James from Food Lion, Scott Farnsworth, assistant store manager, and Tammy Panther, Oktoberfest committee chairperson and HDDA board member.
