Springfield Area Performing Arts Organizations are bringing the arts and the community together Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 for the first-ever Springfield Area Performing Arts and Friends Food Drive.

COVID-19 and its related closures have taken a toll on our Springfield area community, and many families are in desperate need of food. Additionally, with the closure of schools and churches unable to operate at full capacity, the food pantry shelves are dangerously low. Therefore, several Springfield Area Performing Arts organizations are joining personnel and resources to help restock

the shelves of the Holy Family Food Pantry, serving Sangamon, Menard, Christian, Morgan, Scott, and Cass counties . Participating organizations include Springfield Theatre Centre, Springfield Muni Opera, Springfield Ballet Company, Springfield Youth Performance Group, Legacy Theatre, Theatre in the Park, Landmark Ford, Hoogland Center for the Arts, and the high school theater departments of Williamsville, Riverton, Springfield, Sacred Heart-Griffin, Rochester, Chatham, and others.

Donations of canned goods and nonperishable items will be collected outside of Hoogland Center for the Arts (420 S. 6th St.), Landmark Ford (2401 Prairie Crossing Dr.), and the Springfield Muni Opera (815 E Lake Shore Dr.) on Friday, July 17, 2020 from 5-7 PM and Saturday, July 18 from 9-11 AM.

Items most in need are: canned fruit and vegetables, boxed mashed or au- gratin potatoes, boxed rice or pasta meals, canned pasta, peanut butter and jelly, pancake mix and syrup, muffin mixes, dessert mixes, oatmeal, cereal bars, cereal, applesauce or pudding cups, Ramen noodles, mac-n-cheese, rice, soups (especially chicken noodle), tuna, canned chicken, pasta and sauce, and toilet paper, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant, and other hygiene products (including travel size).

During this time when the performing arts are on hiatus and our community is so severely feeling the effect of COVID-19, the Springfield-area performing arts family is finding alternate ways to give back to our local communities. The Springfield Area Performing Arts and Friends Food Drive hopes to bring together performers, dancers, creative staff, volunteers, friends, and patrons of the arts to support those individuals and families facing food insecurity in our community and beyond. 

"Catholic Charities is truly grateful to the Springfield area performing arts organizations for recognizing a need in our community and coming together to help feed those in need. It is because of you, the generous people of Springfield, that the Holy Family Food Pantry, Mobile Food Pantry, and the St. John's Breadline are able to help feed people who have nowhere else to turn. The other day I spoke to a man who had lost his job due to the pandemic. The assistance he was receiving due to his job loss had run out and he didn't have an extra dime to spare for food to feed his family. For those suffering, a few bags of groceries can be the difference between hunger and having the strength to work through their struggles to better their situation," said Laura Wolfe, Development Director for Catholic Charities.

More information about the Holy Family Food Pantry is available by contacting Laura Wolfe, Development Director, Catholic Charities at 217-321-8311 or wolfe@cc.dio.org.

More information about the food drive initiative itself is available by contacting Jennifer Gronewold, President of Springfield Theatre Centre at 217-816-5983 or jengronewold@yahoo.com.