Colorado Mills Wins Food Fight, Everyone Wins for the Donations

Groceries Loaded on Truck at Lamar Chamber

Participating directors from the Lamar Chamber of Commerce will be checking the forecast as the new year approaches; they owe someone a new year’s run. The Chamber board entered into friendly food fight with employees and customers from Colorado Mills, collecting non-perishable foods to donate to Sparrow House Ministries for the holidays as well as a pantry serving the McClave area.

Joel Jacoby Rolling Out Boxes of Food Donations

The deadline was December 1^st and the assessment of which team came out on top was decided rather quickly in favor of Colorado Mills Tuesday afternoon at the chamber offices. To avoid redundancy and provide a comprehensive menu of food items, a list was compiled for each of the 30 days in November, suggesting what could be collected on that day.  How the teams went about it was determined by them, but items ranged from toothbrushes to pasta, shampoo to hot cocoa, stuffing mix to wet wipes or tuna to chili with a lot of other items in-between.

It’s a never-ending demand on food resources at the Sparrow House pantry with as many as 1,400 persons a month visiting their location on South 3^rd Street in Lamar. “We had 900 persons in just two hours the Saturday before Thanksgiving,” said Joel Jacoby.

Jody Stephens and Jonna Costanos Prepare Donations

While Joel and Veronica sorted through some of the bags and boxes, loading them onto their truck, Jody Stephens from Colorado Mills, assisted by Jonna Costanos, began separating food items that would be picked up at Colorado Mills for delivery to McClave.

Sparrowhouse Ministries, operated by Joel and Veronica Jacoby, is located at 907 South 3^rd in Lamar with the cooler at the pantry open December 12^th from 6pm to 7:30pm. The full pantry will be open on Thursday, the 19^th from noon to 1:30pm and again from 6pm to 7pm and that will be the last distribution date for December. Call 719-468-6999 for questions or emergencies.

By Russ Baldwin