The University of Findlay’s 21st annual Helping Hands Food Drive collected 300,299 pounds of food this week, the university announced — a one-day campus and community effort that delivered 70 pallets of donations to CHOPIN Hall to serve Hancock County residents in need, according to the University of Findlay Newsroom.
The drive was held Wednesday, November 4, with an awards ceremony following on Thursday, November 5. This year’s collection pushed the drive’s total since it began in 2006 past 2.6 million pounds of food, the university reported.
The effort ran on volunteer power. A total of 281 volunteers contributed 684 hours to collect, sort and load the donations, according to the University of Findlay Newsroom. When the collection was complete, Garner Trucking Inc. picked up all 70 pallets and delivered them to CHOPIN Hall, the Findlay-area food resource that distributes to Hancock County residents facing food insecurity.
Helping Hands has grown into one of the university’s signature service traditions over its 21 years. What began in 2006 as a campus food collection now moves hundreds of thousands of pounds of food in a single drive, with students, staff and community partners working side by side.
The timing matters for local pantries. Food collected in early November arrives just as Hancock County food programs head into their busiest stretch of the year, the weeks around Thanksgiving and the December holidays, when demand from families across the county typically climbs at the same time donations become harder to predict.
The university’s student publication, The Pulse, also reported the 300,299-pound total and the delivery to CHOPIN Hall, matching the figures in the university’s official announcement.
For the volunteers, the drive is measured in more than pounds. The 684 hours logged this year represent hundreds of members of the campus community choosing to spend part of their week making sure their neighbors have food on the table — the kind of tradition that has now stocked local shelves for two decades.
What happens next: CHOPIN Hall will distribute the donated food to Hancock County residents in need, and the Helping Hands drive will return for its 22nd year next fall, according to the University of Findlay Newsroom.