News release from US Senator Richard Lugar:
Lugar Community Center Collects More Than 1,100 Pounds of Food for Community Harvest Food Bank
The Richard G. Lugar Northeast Indiana Community Service Center collected 1,114 pounds of food for Community Harvest Food Bank in 2010.
“I am hopeful our constant collection of food will encourage others in Northeast Indiana to donate to Community Harvest Food Bank not only during the holiday season but year-round,” said Lugar.
In October 2010, Lugar praised the generosity of Hoosiers for donating more than 155 tons of food to the Hoosiers Fighting Hunger statewide food drive benefiting Indiana food banks.
The Hoosiers Fighting Hunger food drive came about in 2009 when Lugar heard from food banks across the state that demand had increased more than 30 percent. In response, Lugar reached out to Kroger, Marsh and Walmart and asked them to partner, for the first time, in a statewide food drive. Setting aside competitive instincts, stores across the state set up Hoosiers Fighting Hunger displays with pre-bagged food items for purchase at the $3, $5 and $10 levels. In total, Hoosiers Fighting Hunger has collected more than 293 tons of food for hungry Hoosiers.
Lugar has long supported hunger issues, such as incentives to promote charitable food donation, elimination of childhood hunger, foreign food aid, and health promotion.
On January 25, Lugar reintroduced the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act to make permanent provisions that allow farmers and small business owners to receive a tax deduction for donating food products to food banks, pantries and homeless shelters.
Lugar first introduced the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act in 2000. Although the Senate and House passed the provisions in earlier Congresses, it failed to reach the President’s desk until the 2006 Congress, when it was incorporated into the Pension Protection Act but only on a short term basis. Previously, this type of deduction was available only to large corporations, not small businesses.
Lugar is also a founding member of the Senate Hunger Caucus, which provides a forum for Senators to discuss and debate important hunger issues facing the United States and the rest of our world.
The Lugar Community Service Center is located in Covington Plaza at 6384-A West Jefferson Boulevard in Fort Wayne. Visit the Lugar Community Service Center website at www.lugar.senate.gov/northeast for more news and events. If you are interested in volunteering please call (260) 422-1505.
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