Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat: Hays contributes to local food bank

Girl Scout Troop 10088 unloading their designated area collections into a volunteer's truck, who took them to the Community Assistance Center. Some volunteers drove back and forth to get the walking groups' donations back for sorting. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

By JAMI MORAIN
Hays Post

Hays High DECA and 26 other organizations united to collect non-perishables through Hays’ neighborhoods for Trick-or-Treat So Others Can Eat Tuesday night.

“Our job is to help coordinate, work with all of the groups to get [the] Trick-or-Treat So Others Can Eat food drive going,” said Shaina Prough, Hays High DECA’s adviser. “We are also responsible for collecting in the communities, in addition to the 26 organizations that are bringing stuff in tonight. We will count, sort, put it all away, and then mark a date for next year in April and start the process all over again.”

Fort Hays State University's Criminal Justice students dropping off collections from the community at the Food Assistance Center. Twenty seven organizations volunteered to help collect donations and were each given a designated area. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

Local man donates to Girl Scout Troop 10088 as they went door to door in their designated area. The troop rang on doorbells and explained they were there collecting non-perishables for the food bank. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

Prough said this food drive is important considering the economy and inflation,.

“Now more than ever, people are gonna have to help each other out," she said,

Theresa Hill, Community Assistance Center director, said this is the biggest food drive they have. Food demand is high because food is so expensive and they have a lot of families that depend on them.

“This food drive will hold us over until we get to the mail carriers, hopefully. Then we’re getting EMT’s next week, as far as I know, and the mail carrier is in May. This is our biggest one," Hill said.

Community Assistance Center volunteers sort donations. Volunteers at the Center had to go through every bag and sort each individual item. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

Food bank volunteers mark cans. Volunteers lined rows of tables to mark and sort non-perishable donations. Photo by Jami Morain / Hays Post

However, qualifications must be met to receive food. Requirements include how many people are in the household and income. The Community Assistance Center only serve Ellis county residents.

Prough said the community does such a great job with contributing and she feels very blessed, but it will continually be important to help others.

“It’s not people who are not working,” she said. “It’s sometimes the people who are working three jobs and trying to make ends meet that we are helping provide a really valuable service for.”

Local woman answers the door as Girl Scout Troop 10088 Trick or Treats for the Community Assistance Center's food bank. Residents were able to leave items on their porch if they weren't home or didn't want the doorbell rang. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

Community contributions sorted into their category. Volunteers stationed at the food bank sorted the collections into shopping carts. Photo by Jami Morain/Hays Post

Trick-or-Treat So Others Can Eat was originally started in 1984 by Connie Haselhorst for her DECA community service project.

DECA is a global organization of students who are enrolled in a marketing program, who would like to pursue a possible career in entrepreneurship, hospitality or a similar field.

Prough said they will always accept additional groups. If a group is interested in helping, they can email sprough@usd489.com or call Prough at the high school.

Hill said food is still being accepted at the Community Assistance Center. The center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We live in such a great community, that is such a giving community,” Prough said. “Year after year they just blow our socks off with the amount of food that we collect.”