Aurora participates in its 20th Can Care-a-Van

Support for the Hamilton County Food Pantry continues to grow as it completes its 20th year in the annual Can Care-a-Van on Tuesday. After spending seven hours gathering food from donors and organizing it for the shelves, the food pantry amassed nearly 19,315 pounds of food, almost reaching its 20,000-pound goal.
Since 1987, Channel 10/11 and its TV anchors have been spotlighting local food pantries within their coverage area to help food pantries restock their shelves with a range of nonperishable items, including canned foods and toilet paper. In collaboration with 10/11’s 38th annual event, volunteers were interviewed and highlighted by TV news anchors Jon and Taryn Vanderford of CBS affiliate KOLN-KGIN of Lincoln.
“Us together, we’ve probably been coming out for at least 15 years,” Taryn said. “We do the live “Pure Nebraska” show, which is nice at 9 a.m. all week long, from different locations.”
With each year different from the last, the community’s support has remained consistent. 
“The way it’s done is a little different than it used to be,” Jon said. “But the food donations have never waned. They’re always good.”
HCFP board member and spokesman Bruce Ramsour said the day had been perfect for collecting food for the food pantry.
“It went great,” Ramsour said. “The weather was very nice. It didn’t get too hot. People were just as generous as we hoped they would be. It was good, both with the groceries that we got plus with the monetary donation.”
This year, 15 communities participated in Can Care-a-Van, with a combined total of over 115,000 pounds of food collected from Monday, June 9, to Friday, June 13.
During the event, Hamilton County had listed canned fruit, meal soups, pasta sauce, peanut butter, cold cereal, pork and beans, boxed mac and cheese, canned tuna or chicken, laundry detergent and toilet paper that were in need.
Alongside the numerous community members who dropped off their donations, several organizations within Hamilton County stopped by to support its goal.
Hampton Fire & Rescue visited early in the morning to deliver 1,359 pounds of food.
Aurora Memorial Community Health had stopped by and donated 1,035 pounds and Aurora Mall stopped by and delivered 1,200 pounds of food.
“The Aurora Mall did that for us,” said volunteer Jane Tooth. “The hospital brought a lot of detergent. That was nice.”
Several organizations and local churches have also supported Can Care-a-Van through donations.
During Hampton Booster Days, community members came together to collect 590 pounds in preparation for Can Care-a-Van. Giltner Fire & Rescue had also collected food during Giltner Daze for the Food Pantry with the total amount unknown at this time and will not be counted towards the Can Care-a-Van amount.
Other donations included with food included monetary donations, which food pantry treasurer Judy Salmon explained each dollar donated is equivalent to two pounds of food. The money from this year’s event will go towards purchasing food as hamburger and ground pork.
“As we run low on our staple items, we will use the monetary donations for that,” Salmon said.
Having dedicated numerous years to the food pantry, board member Gloria Carlson noted that by the pantry’s 20th year, the Can Care-a-Van program has been efficient throughout the day. “We’ve kind of got it down to a science,” Carlson said. “Now that we’ve done it this many years to kind of know what we’re doing. I think it’s easier now than it used to be. We know exactly what everybody’s going to do and what we need.”
The hard work of the 20 volunteers who spent their Tuesday helping those in need was met with the selfless support of Hamilton County residents.
“I just want to reiterate how generous this community is and how willing they are to help people who are in need,” Ramsour said. 
Salmon expressed her gratitude for every donor who helped the food pantry restock their shelves and support their local communities.
“I see so many donors that are always so cheerful and wanting to help others in the community that struggle with food insecurity,” Salmon said. “We are so fortunate to have a generous Hamilton County.”
The Vanderfords remarked on their time in Aurora and were just as moved by the community’s support for a great cause.
“We love coming here,” Taryn said. “Aurora is a great community, one of our favorites.”
Anyone who wishes to make a donation can stop by the food pantry at 1118 N St. during its open hours on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursdays 5:30-6:30 p.m. or Saturdays 9:30-10 a.m. 
Donors can also mail monetary donations to P.O. Box 7 in Aurora.
For information about donating or volunteering, call the pantry at (402) 694-6979.