Downtown Thanksgiving Food Challenge Donates Over 21,000 Meals to CHOW
Binghamton, NY – Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, Senator Lea Webb, County Executive Jason Garnar, Sheriff Fred Akshar, City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham, the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Binghamton University College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) announced the downtown entity to win the 6th Annual Thanksgiving Food Challenge to benefit Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW), a program of the Broome County Council of Churches.
From November 18-22, CHOW collection barrels were set up in each participant’s lobby. Community members and employees at the city, county, and state government levels, as well as at the Koffman Incubator, SBDC and CCPA, donated over 21,000 community meals to local families in need through non-perishable food and cash donations, surpassing last year’s tally of nearly 14,000 meals.
Coming out on top this year with the most meal donations overall was Team University, comprised of the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, the Small Business Development Center, the Binghamton University College of Community and Public Affairs, winning the coveted Golden Yam Can award. Team County brought home the new Silver Sweet Pea award for most food donations in the barrels.
For those who still wish to help, donations can be made online at the Broome Council Web site.
For every dollar donated, CHOW is able to distribute 5 meals to families in need. In Broome County alone, 1 in 8 individuals and 1 in 6 children are food insecure. Each year, CHOW, through its network of nearly 100 partner agencies (pantries, community meals and non-profit organizations), distributes over 2.2 million pounds of food.