Archive: Around Town

Q Country’s Chris Allinger took to the airwaves Monday Morning to announce his new fundraising project.  Allinger is going to hit the road again this year for the Food Bank of the Southern Tier’s BackPack Program™. Like last year, Allinger plans to strap a backpack to his own back and walk to every town in Tompkins County filling the backpack with donations.

Allinger explains, “This is an important program that helps children that are going hungry right here in our community.”

The Food Bank’s BackPack Program™ provides healthy, child-friendly, and easy to prepare foods to children at risk of hunger over weekends and holiday breaks when children do not have access to free or reduced price school meal programs. Each Friday children in need receive a bag of simple, easy to prepare food to get them through weekends and holidays. These children, who rely on school lunch programs for sustenance, would otherwise go hungry when school is out.

“People ask me what our goal is,” says Allinger explaining, “I tell them three dollars. It costs three dollars for every backpack the Food Bank provides, so for every three dollars I collect means another child will eat for a weekend.” “Walking the Country is specifically for Tompkins County and every dollar we raise here will stay here to fight child hunger.”

People will have options for helping Allinger reach his goal. A secure pledge may be made on the Q Country website www.1037qcountry.com or, as

Allinger says, “You can meet me on the road. We’ll have designated stops in each town we visit and folks can come out and make a donation when we arrive."

Allinger is teaming up with Cornell Sports for the kick-off on September 9th. His walk, which ends on Friday, September 13th, will take him to every town in Tompkins County.

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