WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes-Barre City employees donated boxes of non-perishable food items to CEO’s Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank on Wednesday as part of a friendly competition between all five city departments.
“We were completely on board with [Mayor George C. Brown’s idea for a food drive,]” said CEO Chief Executive Jennifer Warabak as she stood on Public Square, in the snow, waiting for the donations to arrive.
All five departments collectively donated 6,460 pounds of food. The Wilkes-Barre City Police Department ultimately won the competition by making the largest donation of 5,246 pounds.
Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department donated 568 pounds, followed by the Wilkes-Barre City Health Department with 322 pounds, the Department of Public Works with 177 pounds, and City Hall with 137 pounds.
According to Warabak, mass donations like this are important because it brings additional food products into the food bank, which it in turn distributes to the community.
“We definitely see an increase in demand before Thanksgiving right through the holiday season, in particular this year. It’s difficult, a lot of households are dealing with increased costs, whether it’s housing or food or utilities, so any donation like this helps those in the community directly,” she said.
All of the donations collected on Wednesday will stay within the local Wilkes-Barre community and will be divided up between the food bank and food pantries in the city.
Brown thanked the police officers, fire fighters and public works department employees who helped load CEO’s truck on Wednesday, as well as everyone who collected food for the drive.
“You guys are creating a wonderful abundance of food for CEO now. Because of your dedication, this truck is going to be just about filled by the time we leave today,” he said.
The competition may just become a holiday tradition.
“I think we should do this as a yearly,” said Brown.