The 96 Hours of Caring kicks off Friday morning at Woodman's Food Market on McFarland. We will be collecting donations for the Rock River Valley Pantry and Northern Illinois Food Bank. It's so simple to help and a little goes a long way. Woodmans is making it easy too. When you pop in to get your supplies for Thanksgiving, grab a prepackaged bag for $5.99. Over the course of the five days of the 96 Hours of Caring, all of the money raised by these sales will be distributed evenly between the RRVP and NIFB.

We will be broadcasting live throughout the drive in the Mi-Box Mobil Studio and enjoying heat supplied by our friends at Ferrell Gas.

Please stop by and say hello. We'll also be giving away a couple of pairs of tickets to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra on December 27 at the Allstate Arena. TSO is no stranger to helping the area's hungry. Last year, after a phone interview with TSO creator Paul O'Neill, he promptly stopped me before I could say goodbye to tell me that he would like to donate $5,000 to the RRVP. This is how the man conducts himself. Selflessly and humbly. We can't thank him enough. Both times TSO has played Rockford, they have donated a dollar from every ticket sold. That's getting close to $10,000.

Current RRVP Stats:

  • Over 84,000 user visits occurred last year
  • More than 2,600 households every month use the RRVP
  • In October, the RRVP provided food to more than 7,900 individuals
  • Ninety three cents of every dollar goes to program services
  • The RRVP uses more than 30,000 cans of fruits and vegetables every month.
  • Over 45% of all clients are children and adults over the age of 65. Two very vulnerable populations
  • Volunteers are needed. Call 815-965-2466 to inquire about volunteer opportunities.
Among the items needed by the Rock River Valley Pantry:
  • Canned Fruit
  • Peanut Butter
  • Canned Vegetables
  • Tuna Fish

Of course all non-perishable food items are always welcome!

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