Good Neighbors food pantry recently received a new van for food deliveries, thanks to a grant from an Akron Community Foundation affiliate fund and some private donors. Pictured are Good Neighbors volunteers and staff from VanDevere Buick on West Market Street. (Photo: Chris Miller)
Good Neighbors food pantry can be an even better neighbor thanks to a new delivery van, purchased with a recent grant from an Akron Community Foundation affiliate fund.
The new Ford E-250 will help the agency move 3,500 to 4,000 pounds of food at any given time, says George Camilletti, who runs the operation as a volunteer. Along with the $10,000 Akron Community Foundation grant, the food pantry received a few private donations (including volunteers Bob Wilson and Sean O’Connor), and VanDevere Buick on West Market Street donated $1,000 toward the vehicle’s purchase.
“My family’s been involved in Good Neighbors for years,” says Jerry VanDevere, vice president of the VanDevere Bunch chain of auto dealerships. He then turned the keys over to Camilletti and volunteers Bob Wilson and Dick Young. VanDevere says he remembers driving along with his mom making deliveries for the pantry when he was a child.
“Akron Community Foundation is proud to have connected Good Neighbors to one of our affiliate funds in providing the resources to help purchase this van for the organization,” says John T. Petures Jr., president and CEO of Akron Community Foundation. “This is just another vital role ACF plays in linking the generosity of fundholders to impactful programs and services in greater Akron.”
With 300 volunteers and locations in Goodyear Heights, Ellet, Cuyahoga Falls, Tallmadge and Green, Good Neighbors has an exceptional longtime volunteer network, with some active volunteers who are over 100 years old
For info on donating and volunteering, www.good-neighbors.org.
