Statewide food drive brings in thousands of donations for Utah families in need

SALT LAKE CITY — Volunteers across Utah spent their Saturday morning collecting food donations from doorsteps as part of the annual Feed Utah food drive for the Utah Food Bank.

Molly Conroy, a Salt Lake City resident, was among those lending a helping hand, but she says the real teachers in this effort were her daughters and their friends who were volunteering at the Utah Food Bank’s Salt Lake City headquarters.

“The kids are teaching me. I really want to be clear about that,” Conroy said. “I feel like this next generation is leading the way.”

The event, held statewide, brings together thousands of volunteers who distribute door hangers ahead of time, pick up food donations, and transport them to 90 different food banks and pantries across Utah.

Utah Food Bank spokesperson Heidi Cannella says this drive makes a massive impact.

“This is the largest single-day food drive we have throughout the year,” Cannella said.

Last year’s drive collected enough food to provide roughly 2 million meals for Utah families in need. This year, organizers feel the demand for food is even higher.

“We’re seeing an increase in need from high cost of living, inflation, people just can’t get on their feet, they can’t make all their ends meet,” Cannella explained.

For West High School senior Lillian Conroy, volunteering was an easy decision.

“When you think of basic necessities, food is so essential,” she said. “If we can help people with this, why not?”

She convinced her mother, Molly, to join in to show that the fight against hunger is a collective effort.

“They are teaching me about how to be engaged,” Molly Conroy said with a smile.

As bags and boxes of food poured into the Utah Food Bank’s collection sites, Lillian said seeing the overwhelming community response was inspiring.

“It makes it so much more encouraging to see people bring trailers of food here from people’s communities,” she said. “I think it’s great we can get out here and do this.”

Utah Food Bank officials say donations from the Feed Utah food drive will be distributed across the state in the coming weeks.

Those who missed the pickup can still drop off non-perishable food items at Utah Food Bank locations.

For more information or to make a monetary donation, visit utahfoodbank.org.