This is the last week of the County Connection’s food drive which is scheduled to end November 21st. The buses have been acting as food collection sites on wheels to help the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
Last year The County Connection collected 1,425 pounds of food and CCCTA employees collected $450. Currently the agency has collected 640 pounds of food and $140.
“We appreciate the donations our riders have been putting in the crates on the buses. We are down to the last week and have a long way to go to beat last year’s figures,” said Rick Ramacier, County Connection General Manager. “The jobless rate and service cuts have affected our ridership, but with requests for food up 30%, we hope to collect at least as much food as we did last year. And I’m confident we will – our riders always come through.”
The most needed items are protein sources like peanut butter, and canned meats. All canned goods, beans, rice, pastas, iron rich cereal, tomato products, and fruit or 100% fruit juice are accepted. Food Bank officials have asked that no glass containers be donated as they can easily break during transportation and sorting.
The County Connection provides fixed-route bus service and ADA paratransit service to nearly five million passengers each year. For information on bus routes and schedules, call Customer Service at (925) 676-7500 or visit www.cccta.org.