Food Drive Set To Help End Hunger In Cleveland County

The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and Sam's Club of Norman are teaming up to end hunger in Cleveland County.

The two will host a food drive from Wednesday, May 9 through Friday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at Sam's Club located at 3400 W. Main Street in Norman.

Collections will be given to the Norman chapter of Meals on Wheels and McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church.

Nancy Koplowitz, McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church food pantry volunteer said the pantry consists of only volunteers. It doesn't receive any financial support from the church.

"We probably give away between 60 and 80 bags of groceries a week," Koplowitz said. "We give food to an underserved population of working poor. We also serve special needs adults. We appreciate any help we can get."

Sheriff Joe Lester said his department supports any effort and organization who steps up to fight hunger.

"There are children and adults who wake up and go to bed each night without anything to eat," Lester said. "This food drive will put food on their plates and bring down the number of hungry people in Cleveland County."

This marks the second time that CCSO and Sam's Club will collaborate for a food drive.

CCSO and Sam's Club teamed together in November 2011 to collect food for Meals on Wheels. The project resulted in 23 bins of food collected for the organization.