LDS Church Delivers Over 36,000 Pounds of Food to Golden Harvest in Aiken

Golden Harvest Food Bank got more than 36,000 pounds of shelf-stable food on April 30 at its Aiken location from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A tractor-trailer hauled the goods from Salt Lake City, part of a nationwide America250 project.

The shipment holds dozens of pallets packed with non-perishable foods and other essentials. Driver Jeff Norberg steered the rig across the country, battling rain and wind, then snow through Wyoming.

"It's mostly food items," Norberg said, per the Aiken Standard. "There is some soap. Everything in there is made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We make it all. We package it ourselves."

This drop connects to America250. That's a nonpartisan congressional commission asking Americans to take part in remembrance, reflection, and service to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The LDS group is sending 250 truckloads to 250 food banks from coast to coast, hitting Alaska and Hawaii, too.

"They even have a way to put the truck on the ships that go to Alaska, and for Hawaii, they'll put it on a ship, too, so all the states get a truck — at least one," said Cheryl Ruggles, the church's communications director for the Aiken-Augusta area.

Ruggles said this truckload will feed 1,400 people for a week. Staff will turn it into 4,000 boxes for families when summer hits.

Aiken's delivery marks the first of three planned drops in South Carolina. Shipments are scheduled for May 8 in Columbia and July 23 in Greenville.