Northfield Fire & Rescue Food Drive is Saturday

It’s all about giving back to the community.

Saturday marks the 13th year that Northfield Fire & Rescue will partner with community groups like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and youth church groups to canvas the city to collect non-perishable foods for the .

Aside from collecting donations, volunteer firefighter Brian Ims said the event is a great opportunity for residents to get face-to-face contact with firefighters and offers a special day for the youth who participate.

Between 80 and 100 people usually take part in the collection, which has the firefighters and other volunteers driving around in fire trucks and fire vehicles.

“It’s kind of fun for the kids,” Ims said.

Volunteers go door-to-door and visit as many homes as they can in a three-hour span.

In the past 12 years, more than 56,000 pounds of food has been collected and donated to the CAC.

Jim Blaha, executive director of the CAC, said it’s always exciting to see what each year’s collection will bring in.

"(The) CAC is always appreciative of the large community of helpers, who also get to enjoy the firefighters themselves in their ever-present helping role," he said.

Though, Ims said, the haul is usually dependent on the weather.

“It looks to be a pretty awesome day,” Ims said of the forecast.

Saturday’s high is expected to be 73 degrees with mostly sunny skies, according to the National Weather Service.

The collection goes from 9 a.m. until noon. At 12:30 p.m., everyone will gather at the CAC to drop off the food and take a group photo in front of one of the fire rigs. They will then return to the for a pizza party.

Anyone interested in helping can either email Ims at bdims@hotmail.com or be at the Safety Center by 9 a.m. Saturday.

Pounds of Food Donated

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