Cans for Coffee breaks Food Bank record
The seventh annual McDonald’s Cans for Coffee drive collected 45,000 pounds of food — the most ever raised by McDonald’s of the Ozarks. The food drive hadn’t brought in more than 36,000 pounds since 2011, and it surpassed this year’s goal of 30,000 pounds, the equivalent of 25,000 meals.
This is a new food drive record at Ozarks Food Harvest. It becomes the largest annual community food drive for The Food Bank, breaking the most recent SPS Food Fight title of 39,450 pounds.
Cans for Coffee allows patrons to bring a nonperishable food donation to the front counter or drive-thru window at any area McDonald’s restaurant to receive one small McCafe beverage. Sixty-three restaurants in more than 40 communities participated.
Since 2008, McDonald’s of the Ozarks has collected more than 195,000 pounds of food — nearly 155,000 meals — from community members through Cans for Coffee.
“Cans for Coffee has become one of the biggest food drives in the Ozarks,” said Denise Gibson, development director at OFH. “It really gets people in the giving spirit since it occurs just before the holiday season.”
Tyson Foods, Inc. gave a big boost to the annual drive by donating 35,200 pounds, or 1,760 cases, of chicken.
Since 2008, Tyson has donated more than 200,000 pounds of frozen chicken to OFH during Cans for Coffee.