Feed A Friend nets thousands of canned donations

11/19/25

By Lauren Royce, Editor
SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY — Trehab’s annual Feed A Friend canned food drive welcomed the return of its canned food sculpture contest in local schools, and brought in over 3,000 canned and boxed food items as a result. Blue Ridge High School, Susquehanna Community School and Montrose High School each made a sculpture entirely of donated goods. Elk Lake, Forest City and Mountain View also participated in donating but did not compete in the sculpture portion.
The newspaper’s editor (myself), Commissioner Dave Darrow and Sheriff Lance Benedict judged the sculptures on creativity, theme representation, structural stability, use of cans and overall presentation. The cans could be taped together and have paper taped on, but they could not be opened or carved out in any way.
Blue Ridge High School made their can sculpture to look like the Nintendo character Mario, using construction paper and a colorful backdrop to complete the scene. Between the elementary and high school, over 2,000 items had been collected for donation.
Montrose High School made their sculpture to mimic the game Block Blast, at one point tallying 1,038 items collected, and then a few hundred more after donations from Choconut came in.
Susquehanna Community School fashioned a minecraft zombie out of their cans, using the colors on the cans to depict its likeness. The zombie was very sturdy with the added shelving. They collected about 300 items for the Feed A Friend Program.

At Trehab’s facility in South Montrose, pallets of pre-bagged Thanksgiving totes sat ready to be distributed to those in need for the upcoming holiday. Each one included a dessert, cornbread, stuffing, gravy and other staple ingredients for Thanksgiving. The Feed A Friend Program has been going on for about 40 years now, but this was the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic that the can contest had been brought back due to popular demand.

“We are just blessed in so many ways. The community, the donations have come in from individuals, the churches, “ said Patti McRae, pantry manager at Trehab. Blankets that were no longer being used at the closed down jail came in too. Canned meats are used often in bagged meals, and ground meats are stored in chest freezers.
McRae said Price Chopper donates up to 1,000 pounds of would-be wasted produce daily to the senior program that fills carts with groceries for local seniors in need. Pepperidge Farm also donates hundreds of pounds of bread products weekly, free to Trehab, she said.

Typically, about 15 to 20 people come into Trehab to get food regularly. The government shutdown’s impact on SNAP put a squeeze on the area, causing that number to jump up to about 40, according to Judy Herschel, Executive Director of Trehab.
Between June 2024 and July 2025, Trehab’s two food banks (South Montrose, Susquehanna Depot) served 5,208 households in Susquehanna County. That’s 12,080 people including 5.270 adults, 3,354 children and 3,456 elderly residents, according to data from Herschel. Of those, South Montrose’s foodbank served 3,200 households, totaling 7,521 individuals.
The data Herschel provided said that the Feed A Friend program fed 827 households, totaling 2,812 individuals last year.
The main items Trehab is in need of are dishwashing items like soap and scrubbers, laundry wash items and feminine care products, Herschel said.