Heartland Veterans Center to march with food donations

Student veterans and active duty members will deliver the food in a march from the Heartland campus to Midwest Food Bank on Saturday.
(Heartland Community College photo)

By Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – Student veterans are preparing to march to help replenish a local food pantry, and are enlisting civilian help.

The veterans’ center at Heartland Community College is collecting non-perishable food through the remainder of this week. Student vets and active duty members will then march on Saturday from the Heartland campus to the Midwest Food Bank warehouse in Bloomington with the goods they’ve collected. That’s a round trip of 6.2 miles.

One of the project organizers, Will Fouts said the drive is designed to be a community project.

“There’s a lot of talk within the veterans community of mostly veterans helping veterans,” Fouts told WJBC’s Marc Strauss. “While I love working with fellow vets, we wanted to do something that was going to bring the community aspect into it.”

Canned and dry goods can be dropped off at Heartland’s Student Commons Building Room 1101 or the atriums of the Instructional Commons Building and Workforce Development Center. Canned foods, box meals and peanut butter are especially welcome.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]

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