Local restaurants host food truck rally, food drive

About 1,500 people dined in Magnolia Parke on Sunday night and had the opportunity to donate canned goods and money to feed the hungry.

One Love Café, Taste Pho and Noodle House had been collecting food for the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank throughout the week. Juli Denney, a co-owner of One Love Café, and fundraising organizer Andrew Poe decided to extend the fundraiser to the food-truck event.

Attendees could pick from 15 food truck options as they listened to live music from The Shakedown, a local band debuting at the event, located off of Northwest 39th Place.

“There are people from every walk of life, every age group, every color, every political party — everything — and we never have a single issue,” Denney said. “Not one time did I see one thing bad. Just happy people.”

The food truck rally was the third this year, and the food drive was the second one she and Poe have organized, Denney said.

Poe, 28, first heard about Bread of the Mighty two years ago and said he liked that the organization had a wide outreach, as it worked with pantries, churches and shelters in five different counties.

“It’s an amazing organization because when you donate to Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, you donate to over 170 organizations who all work toward feeding the hungry,” he said.

Poe, who plans to weigh the donations Monday, estimates they collected about 200 pounds worth of canned goods during the drive from Thursday to Sunday. Last year, the drive raised 130 pounds of food, Poe said.

“A lot of people don’t understand that there are a lot of hungry people, especially hungry children, but hungry people in our county and surrounding counties,” Poe said. “I think everyone would like for everyone else to have a good holiday meal.”

Victoria Williams, 52, filled a backpack with cans to donate and attended the rally with her husband Charles, 49. The pair ordered Boom Boom Chicken at Taste Pho and beer at One Love.

“We’re from (Gainesville), so it’s really nice to feel like you’re helping our community,” she said.

Denney said the time of year for the drive was no coincidence. They chose this time of year for families who are looking for a holiday meal.

“Thanksgiving is all about food, so it’s the best time,” she said. “Everybody is giving thanks for everything that they have and part of that is having a lot of food and beautiful meals for everyone. There’s a lot of people who don’t have the ability to provide that for their family, so they look to Bread of the Mighty.”

Fundraising organizer Andrew Poe, 28, consolidates donations of canned food Sunday at a food truck rally. Donated food will be given to Bread of the Mighty Food Bank.