Fresh food drive gives food to homeless shelters

Several local organizations teamed up this weekend to bring fresh food to area homeless shelters — in the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Missouri Rivers Community Network organized the drive.

Shoppers could buy fresh produce and grains and donate it at the Farmer’s Market and Clover’s Natural Market the past couple of days.

Miranda Challeen, with the Missouri Rivers Communities Network, helped organized the fresh food drives.

“Typically, these shelters have canned foods coming in,” she said. “But to get a head of cabbage or some carrots or other produce locally grown by farmers, that’s a big thing.”

On Friday and Saturday, the drive gathered more than 400 pounds of produce, or about $700 worth.

Sunday’s numbers have not been calculated yet.

You can still donate monetarily, and 100 percent of your donation will go towards buying produce for the shelters.

You can donate by visiting http://www.moriver.org/ and clicking on “Donations” under the “Contact Us” tab.