Video Transcript: Central New Yorkers step up, fill library food drive with donations
Eddie McCarthy: Deanna Doak and her husband are braving the snow to head to the library. But not to check out books. They’re donating food.
Deanna Doak (SOT): Stuff that we’re not going to use, why not give it to somebody that can use it.
McCarthy: Deanna and her husband are contributing to the Northern-Onondaga-Public-Library’s food drive. Recent events compelled Deanna to donate.
Doak (SOT): All these people without their SNAP benefits, it’s not good.
McCarthy: SNAP, the nation’s largest federal food aid program, has been suspended since November first. Kara Greene, who organized the library’s food drive initiative, says the community looked to its library to help.
Kara Greene (SOT): “We had some patrons ask us if we’d be willing to be a site for a food drive drop off.”
McCarthy: The library agreed and posted an announcement to Instagram. The response? Overwhelming.
Greene (SOT): We’re probably gonna end up with over 200 bags of food donated, if not more.
McCarthy: Why was the response so strong?
Greene (SOT): And they can see that their neighbors, people they actually know are affected by this, so I think it was really easy for them to respond that way
McCarthy: Neighbors like Deanna.
Doak (SOT): We are participants. We go to the food banks ourselves.
McCarthy: But it’s the donations from people like Deanna that’ve forced the library to make adjustments … in a good way.
Greene: What I thought would be is that we’d be dropping off all the food at the end of the drive, but that didn’t happen because some places have already had two pickups.
McCarthy: The busiest location so far has been here, in North Syracuse. However, the NOPL also has collection sites open in Cicero and in Brewerton. The drives continue through Nov. 22. Eddie McCarthy, NCC News.
NORTH SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – What started as a small food drive at the Northern Onondaga Public Library has quickly grown into a community-wide effort to help local families in need.
“I thought it would be good, but it’s been great,” Greene said.
Kara Greene, the food drive’s organizer, said the community’s response has exceeded expectations.
Normally, the NOPL’s shelves are filled with books. This month, however, the books are joined by bags of canned goods, pasta, rice and even baby formula. Greene said more than 100 bags of food have already been donated.
The NOPL announced the food drive on Instagram. Word spread quickly from there.
“Everyone who saw the post just shared it far and wide, so we got a lot of free publicity,” Greene said.
With SNAP, the nation’s largest federal food aid program, currently suspended due to the government shutdown, many donors said they felt compelled to help their neighbors. Among them were Deanna Doak and her husband, who dropped off two bags of food even though they rely on food banks themselves.
“All these people without their SNAP benefits, it’s not good,” Doak said. “Stuff that we’re not going to use – why not give it to somebody that can use it.”
Greene said the outpouring of support has been so strong that some collection sites have already needed multiple pickups. The drives continue through Nov. 22 at the NOPL’s North Syracuse, Cicero and Brewerton branches.