KEZI

EUGENE, Ore. — The Lane County Fair teamed up with a local food bank Sunday. Fair-goers could get in for free by donating three cans of food to Food for Lane County. Sunday was not just the last day of the fair, but the most important day of all for folks at Food for Lane County.

Fair-goers came to the fair this week for many reasons. Some went for the food. Others showed up for the games and rides. On Sunday, thousands came in support of a great cause–donating food for community members in need. The line wrapped around the corner with folks eager to empty their hands, bags and even boxes of food.

Food for Lane County managers said it’s their biggest drive of the summer and vital to their operations.

“Normally in August and September, we see our lowest months for food drive food. I think next month, traditionally, I think we’ve gotten about 4,000 pounds in September and when you distribute 7.7 million pounds in a year, getting only 4,000 in a month is pretty low,” said Alicia Hines, Food for Lane County’s Food Resource Developer.

Last year, the fair raised nearly 15,000 pounds. This year, the food bank estimated that they were able to collect about 17,000 pounds in donations.

Though they weren’t able to reach their goal of 20,000 pounds, Food for Lane County said they were amazed at how much they were able to collect in just two hours. They have high hopes for next year.