Make a Difference Day marked by food drive in Wheaton
The corner of Roosevelt Road and Main Street in Wheaton became the site of a celebration on Saturday a celebration of community and the importance of helping out.
In honor of the nationwide Make a Difference Day, the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce wrapped up its monthlong food drive with a “Stuff-a-Truck” event in front of the former Hubble Middle School.
All the food donations gathered at chamber businesses since Oct. 1 were loaded onto trucks and driven to the food pantry at the People's Resource Center, a Wheaton-based social service organization.
Two fully loaded trucks and a handful of vans and SUV's stood ready to make the journey.
“I'm overwhelmed by the response,” said Laurie Swanson Oberhelman, chairwoman of the event. “The chamber businesses and the community have been absolutely wonderful.”
As the trucks were loaded, the chamber hosted a festive celebration on the site. A number of businesses set up booths and brought out games, from a bean-bag toss to a 20-foot-tall climbing wall. When the celebration ended at 3 p.m., the food began its journey to the PRC.
Members of Wheaton Drama, a not-for-profit community theater company, performed songs from such famous musicals as “Spamalot,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Oliver!”
“We're an all-volunteer group that believes in community, and that's what we're celebrating today,” said Donna Fletcher, a longtime member of the company. “It takes the strength of a community to get through tough times like these.”
Oberhelman and the rest of the chamber's community relations committee organized the first food drive last year. The PRC was an easy choice as the beneficiary of the drive because of its Wheaton location and the high demand for food assistance among the people it serves, a problem made worse by the bad economy.
“Today is Make a Difference Day, and the PRC's food pantry does make a real difference to so many people, especially now,” Oberhelman said. “I'm so happy with the way the community has stepped up. We had people coming up to us and offering money in addition to food. It's been amazing.”