Hickory – It is time again for the Annual Castle of Cans Food Drive, and we look forward to your participation in the 2022 drive – the Castle’s 24th year. We know that the problem of hunger in 
Catawba County remains. While the need is still great, the cost of food has increased significantly, and we are still experiencing many supply-chain issues. Food Lion, a key campaign supporter, has opted to make a financial contribution as it has done for the past two years in lieu of pallets of cans. Knowing than in 2020 and 2021 we held a very successful virtual fundraising campaign to support the key eight agencies serving families in need in our community, this year we will continue to offer the fund drive option.
Our collection campaign will again run the entire month, October 1-31, 2022.
Schools, businesses, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to “join” and create their own fund drive page within the Castle of Cans team. Each team will get a custom link once they create a page that can be shared within their network of supporters via email or social media. Click “join the team” and follow the easy instructions by visiting the Castle of Cans page or donate directly on the page: https://p2p.onecause.com/castleofcans2022
The first food drive and castle build took place in 1999. The idea to add the community service component to Oktoberfest came from architects Beemer Harrell and Marvin Folger. Susan Coleman, a Catawba County Schools’ educator and member of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, began coordinating the food drive and did so for many years until her death in 2013. The event now carries her name. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church has continued to coordinate the food collection for Hickory’s Downtown Development Association. Since 2007, Castle of Cans has contributed 262,396 lbs. of food to eight local agencies – 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.
For information about the Castle of Cans or to join the team and participate, please contact Carleen Crawford at 828-781-0845 or Amy Ogle at 828-322-1121.
