Competition heats up in annual Tri-City Food Drive

A little friendly competition between cities will benefit hungry families this holiday season.

For the third consecutive year, the cities of Weldon Spring, Dardenne Prairie and Cottleville will compete to collect the most food for Sts. Joachim & Ann Care Service. The food pantry serves hundreds of families every week in St. Charles,Lincoln and Warren counties.

“We are once again happy to be challenging our sister cities, Weldon Spring and Dardenne Prairie in our annual Tri-City Food Drive,” said Scott Lewis, Cottleville city administrator. “Last year, Cottleville employees, elected officials, business owners and residents donated over 2,000 nonperishable food items.”

Cottleville narrowly edged out the city of Weldon Spring last year to take home the coveted Cornucopia Trophy.

“Cottleville will be defending the Cornucopia Trophy that has proudly been on display in the lobby of our City Hall since winning last year’s competition,” Lewis said.

But Lewis said the competition will be tough because the city lost one of its biggest participants from last year, as the students and staff at Saeger Middle School are participating in Francis Howell Central’s Winter Warm-up coat drive this year.

“We are going to miss their help this year, but we have put out the call to our residents and businesses to support the home team this year,” Lewis said.

Residents from all three cities are encouraged to drop off donations of canned goods, non-perishable items, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning goods, baby diapers or personal care items at their respective city hall.

“We will be placing a container on the front porch of City Hall for drop-offs after normal business hours and weekends,” said Moe Kwiatkowski, city clerk for Weldon Spring.

At this point, the food drive has not brought as many donations as last year.

“We’re off to a slow start though this year. I’m hoping people don’t forget us while they are out there shopping for their friends and loved ones,” said Kwiatkowski.

Kwiatkowski hopes the donations will help fill empty stomachs in St. Charles County.

“We participate in this each year because there are people who benefit from the donations. There are children who go to bed hungry each night because their parents don’t have the means to provide the necessary staples,” said Kwiatkowski. “Usually after the Thanksgiving distribution, the pantry shelves are pretty bare so hopefully our food drive can fill some of the empty spaces and empty stomachs as well.”

Only one city will take home the trophy, but the real winners of the competition are families in need.

“We have a great working relationship with the staffs of the other city halls and are we are pleased that our friendly competition can help those in our county who are in need of assistance this holiday season,” Lewis said.