Drop off food donations as you enter the Washington County Fair this week. Thanksgiving in July is in its third week in Washington and efforts are underway to collect non-perishable food for local pantries. Food drives and collection bins are around the community, including each entrance to the fairgrounds.

Director of Development, Marketing and Communications for United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties Trisha Smith says all donations are appreciated but some items are especially needed, “So the top items that are really needed during these food drives are things that are nonperishable and have a longer shelf life. So we’re looking at items like canned fruit, or even canned meat, peanut butter, canned vegetables, you know anything that comes in that canned packaging is very helpful. But something that is often overlooked are things like baby formula, because that is a real need especially if you are having to allocate some budget dollars for food on a child that would get a free lunch or a free breakfast with their school system. And so, making sure no one in the family goes hungry is an important part of it.”

Also, monetary donations to area pantries can stretch a long way. Those nonprofits are able to purchase food directly from suppliers and use matching grant funds to leverage even more food. All items donated will stay local.