Food Donations

County residents turned out in a big way in response to the U.S. Postal Service drive during Valentine's Day week to collect non-perishable food items from customers for food banks.So much food was collected that organizers of last week's effort asked the National Guard to assist in hauling the 44,767 pounds collected to the Harford Food Bank in Edgewood.Two Guard trucks made the rounds of nine county post offices Tuesday."This is the fullest I think I have ever seen the food bank,"said Betty Karukas, executive assistant for the food bank, which supplies church and other groups assisting the needy.

Keith Klinedinst goes trick or treating, but not for candy. Patrick Young rakes leaves and does other chores, but not for money. They do it for food, for others.The two elementary school youngsters are among 30,000 students, elementary through high school, participating in the Kids Helping Kids Program this year to raise food donations for the hungry.More than 200 schools from Cecil County through Central Maryland to Montgomery County are involved in the third year of the program.Yesterday, some 600 students and 200 parents and teachers met at Loyola College to learn about hunger, nutrition and, as Gov. William Donald Schaefer told them, caring.

The Ernest E. Wooden Educational Fund is accepting applications.The purpose of the fund, sponsored by Farmers and Merchants Bank, is to help young people who otherwise may not be able to further their education.The award is based on applicants' ability to achieve. Recipients of the awards are not limited to academic work but may pursue vocational training in the trades and professions.Previous winners of the Ernest E. Wooden Educational Fund scholarships are eligible to reapply.Family members of directors, officers and selection committee members of the education fund are not eligible.

A church-run pantry in the Severna Park area has nearly run out of food to help the needy.Food donations to the Severna Park Assistance Network, or SPAN, a pantry run by 10 of the areas churches, have steadily dwindled over the last eight weeks, said the director, Barbara Birkenheuer.SPAN is "very, very low" on foods such as canned potatoes, canned fruits, peanut butter and jelly and canned meats such as beef stew, Ms. Birkenheuer said.While some decrease in food donations to the pantry is normal during summer months when church members are on vacation, the recent drop is extreme, she said.

In its first 15 months, the United Way of Central Maryland's Access to Healthy Food Initiative distributed more than 3.4 million pounds of groceries to low-income individuals and families, the organization said. But because spring and summer are slow times for food donations, the UWCM is holding its first Families Living United Healthy Food Week campaign , which continues through Saturday. Businesses, schools and organizations are being encouraged to conduct their own drives.

Harriet M. Allen, a retired Harford County public school educator, died April 4 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Charlestown retirement community. She was 89. Harriet Morris was born in Baltimore County and raised in Hampstead, where she graduated from Hampstead High School in 1939. After graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1943, she taught high school for two years in Salisbury. In 1963, she earned a master's degree in education from the University of Maryland.

Maryland postal workers overcame a slow start to collect more food than last year in their annual house-to-house drive, which ended yesterday.As of late Friday, food donations for the Harvest for the Hungry campaign reached 443,440 pounds, an increase from last year's collection of 398,000 pounds, said Larry Adam Jr., the Harford County investment broker who founded the food campaign.The drive, conducted by 3,000 letter carriers, was extended two weeks in a bid to boost donations.Only about 200,000 pounds had been collected when the drive was due to end in mid-March.

Thanksgiving service The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 7606 Quarterfield Road in Glen Burnie, will hold a Thanksgiving Eve service at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24. Food donations will be accepted for the needy. Information: 410-766-8778. Anniversary Asbury Town Neck United Methodist Church, 429 Asbury Drive in Severna Park, celebrates its 126th anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 28, with 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services. In addition to resident and guest preachers, ministering to the congregation will be the United Voices of Praise, Johnson Male Chorus and others.

In an effort to provide holiday dinners to needy families in Prince George's County, the Prince George's County Public Safety Assistance Program is collecting donations of canned goods through Dec. 20. County agencies that are participating in the holiday food basket program include the Office of the Sheriff, Police Department, Fire/EMS Department, Department of Corrections, Office of Homeland Security, Public Safety Communications and the Office...

Bruce Michalec has a history of feeding people. Originally from Pittsburgh, Michalec, 67, spent the first several years of his life moving among Air Force bases all over the country while his father navigated B-29 bombers in the Pacific during World War II. In 1949, he made the 21-day sea journey with his family to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, where his parents were helping to run the post-war federal food aid program. "We were feeding the world," Michalec said of his time in the Philippines.