Food insecurity is a national concern that often flies underneath the radar.The United States Department of Agriculture reports that 86.5% of households, which is about 114.6 million households, were food secure throughout 2023. In addition, 82.1% of households with children, 29.7 million, were food secure in 2023.In Summit County alone, 10% of all households experience food insecurity, and along with that, 13% of children in the county are food insecure, according to stats provided by the Christian Center of Park City, said Becca Lael, Park City Library’s head of events and publicity.“That’s one in 10 people who come into the library,” she said. “That’s a lot.”To help quell food insecurity during the holiday season, the Park City Library will hold a food drive from Nov. 1-30 for the Christian Center of Park City’s food pantries, Lael said.“The collection bin will be set up right at our entrance, as you enter Lucky Ones Coffee,” she said. “People can drop off donations anytime the library or Lucky Ones is open.”Although the library will accept food donations of all kinds, the Christian Center of Park City especially needs the following: Canned tuna and chicken Peanut butter Macaroni and cheese Individual servings of fruit Cooking oil Spices Canned soup Infant formula Jars of baby foodIn addition to food, the Park City Library will also accept these essential products:Diapers and adult diapers Menstrual care productsThe Park City Library’s partnership with the Christian Center of Park City for a food drive reaches back when the library would collect fines for overdue books, Lael said.“We would forgive their fines if they donated food,” she said. “And when we got rid of fines in 2018, we still wanted to participate in the food drive. Once we did that, the food drives became more successful.”Every year the community donates enough food to fill two cars, Lael said.“When I say two full cars, I mean the front seats, the whole back seats and the trunks,” she said. “It is wild and completely amazing to see people turn out for the food drive.”The amount of donations mirror the amount of care community members show each other, according to Lael.“We are so lucky to live in a community where people not only attend our events,” she said, “they also do small things like help each other on the computers. So, participating in food drives like this shows how much our community cares about humanity.“Because we don’t provide direct services that the Christian Center of Park City provides, it’s so important for us to be a part of the community and show our care for our patrons,” Lael said. “The food drive is so important to the library because we have a lot of patrons who are food insecure. Sometimes they disclose that to us, and sometimes they don’t, so we are so excited to be able to do a food drive every year for the Christian Center.”Food Drive for the Christian Center of Park CityWhen: Nov. 1-30 Where: Park City Library and Lucky Ones Coffee, 1255 Park Ave. Web: tinyurl.com/mrypbk48The post Library partners with the Christian Center to fight food insecurity appeared first on Park Record.