Help Deep River Friends Meeting feed families this holiday season
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Deep River Friends Meeting is hosting the “Camp Out for Hunger” food drive Nov. 15-20 (M-F from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon) to benefit Hand to Hand Food Pantry and Backpack Beginnings. Deep River Friends member David Smith plans to camp out daily to collect donations to help feed families this holiday season.
The year’s event is in partnership with the Greater High Point Food Alliance and coincides with National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Community members who wish to donate are encouraged to bring their items to Deep River Friends Meeting (5300 West Wendover Avenue) Nov. 15-20.
Deep River’s goal is to collect at least 20,000 pounds of food. Since 2017, Deep River Friends Meeting has collected more than 42,700 pounds of food for Hand to Hand Food Pantry.
2021 Campout Tracker
Here’s a list of the most-needed items:
- Non-perishable canned goods (single-serve pop-tops preferred)
- Toiletries – toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, etc.
- Pet items – canned food, dry food, cat litter, etc.
See and share event updates and photos on social media using #feedhp on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Donate to Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive
Unable to bring donations to Deep River? Check out our Amazon Wishlist to purchase some of our most needed items. At checkout, make sure you select “Deep River Friends Meeting’s Gift Registry Address” under the “Other Addresses” section so it’s delivered right to us!
You can also give financially. $1 = 1 pound of food. Use the secure form below to give to the food drive and we’ll purchase food for Hand to Hand Food Pantry for you.
Letter from event organizer David Smith
Dear Friends,
This year marks our 5th anniversary of the Camp Out for Hunger at Deep River Friends Meeting. The first year of the Camp Out this area was rank #1 in the US for food insecurity. Today we are #14. We have seen amazing organizations and community members rise up around us in the Greensboro-High Point area to meet the challenge of food insecurity. There is still a lot of work to do but we are so glad to be supporting some of the groups moving us in the right direction.
As joyful as I feel to see the Camp Out become a regular successful event in our community, this year feels different. We have seen great progress but this year I have met so many people and even myself am one who is just a moment away from need. A loss of a job, a major unexpected medical issue, a large home or car expense and a person can very quickly find themselves facing a terrible choice of heating their home or feeding their family. I can say with absolutely certainty this is wrong and we have a moral obligation to do better for everyone. I don’t say that as a Christian or a Quaker I say that as a human being, we must do better, sustainably, long term, enduring better.
As I have said before, all I do is provide space. That is what it is all about, giving each other the space we need to acknowledge where we are and what needs doing to get where we need to be. This food drive is just a piece that connects to another that connects to a person or a family to get them by. But we cannot not just focus on getting people by, we have to focus on getting better, once and for all. This transcends our faiths, politics, and everything else, falling to our core as fellow human beings. I trust, through my faith, we can get to better and my challenge to everyone this year is not just bring food or money to get us to our 20,000lb goal but put your heart and your mind to the test. Bring new ideas, your time, your energy, and let’s talk about and put into action the deeper work that needs to be done right now so next time we go camping, it can just be for fun.
Be excellent to each other,
David J. Smith
2020 Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive
In 2020, Deep River Friends Meeting collected 11,224 pounds of food to benefit Hand to Hand Food Pantry in High Point.
2019 Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive
In 2019, Deep River Friends Meeting collected 14,000 pounds of food to benefit Hand to Hand Food Pantry in High Point.
2018 Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive
In 2018, Deep River Friends Meeting collected 10,119.63 pounds of food to benefit Hand to Hand Food Pantry in High Point, which exceeded its original goal of 10,000 pounds.
2017 Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive
In 2017, Deep River Friends Meeting collected 7,635.2 pounds of food to benefit Hand to Hand Food Pantry in High Point, which exceeded its original goal of 2,500 pounds.