BOUNTIFUL, Utah — It was special day over the weekend for those looking to help feed the estimated 317,000 Utahns, including one in 10 kids, who aren't sure where their next meal will be coming from.
It's all thanks to the impact of the third annual statewide Feed Utah event on Saturday, which is already being felt at local food pantries.
Back in November, the shelves were nearly bare at the Bountiful Food Pantry.
"It was totally empty, all the racking floor space, everything was completely empty around November 1," explained Rebekah Anderson, Executive Director of Bountiful Food Pantry.
However, it was a much different sight Monday as the aisles were nearly 38 feet deep with food and other necessities received during the drive.
"We had about 173,000 pounds come in on Saturday," Anderson said. "It's all non-perishable food. It's everything from pasta to beans, flour."
That particular food pantry is the largest pantry in the southern part of Davis County, feeding approximately 78,000 people last year. On Saturday, the pantry had upwards of 200 volunteers helping at their site and three others as donations rolled in.
"This is going to feed people in our community until probably June or July, so this is huge for us, this really gets us through a time where we only have one other significant food drive. So it's really, really important to our community," said Anderson.
The drive also helped bring in a wider variety of food with oatmeal and packets of gravy.
"We're at about 410,000 pounds of food that came to us on Saturday," shared Utah Food Bank CEO Ginette Bott. "So now we have the task of going out to all the other locations across the state of Utah where food was donated and gather those numbers."
The food bank is hopeful it can surpass last year's total donations of 1.5 millions pounds of food.
"There are about 263 partner agencies and pantries that the Utah Food Bank serves. So that covers a huge geographic area and a lot of demand for food and with the increase in numbers, this food drive was really important," Bott said.
Groups will be coming to the Bountiful Food Pantry over the next few days to start sorting through all the donations and getting them on shelves for those who need it to take home.
