The Hoover Public Library is asking the public to step up its game this September with the library’s annual Food for Fines campaign, asking patrons to donate at least 10,000 items for area food banks.
That’s more than double the amount than has ever been given in a single year at the Hoover library, but the need for food has increased since the pandemic, said Lawana Rooks, a Hoover library specialist who is coordinating the effort.
The Food for Fines program, part of a larger effort by the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, allows library patrons to get $1 taken off any library fines they may have for each nonperishable food item they donate, up to a total of $10 in fines being waived.
Hoover has had the Food for Fines program since 2008, and in the early years of the program, the library collected 3,300 to 4,400 food items each year, according to statistics provided by the library.
From 2017 to 2019, patrons donated less than 3,000 items each September. In 2020, amid the pandemic, the library didn’t count donations, and in 2021, there were only 1,566 food items donated at the Hoover library, officials said.
This year, with inflation, the number of people needing help with access to food has risen, and library officials are asking people to make a special effort to show the love, Rooks said.
“The price of food has gone up; gas prices are on the rise, and we want to let the community know that we care,” she said. “Food insecurity is a real issue in almost every city in the state of Alabama, including the city of Hoover. According to data from the 2020 U.S. Census, nearly 6% of the Hoover population is living below the poverty line. Ten thousand items will change the dynamics of this need.”
People need to understand that when they donate food, it really does make a difference, Rooks said.
“We are the difference between a child having a meal or going to school hungry!” she said in a press release. “We are the difference between a parent choosing to buy food or purchase gas!”
For the first time, the Hoover Public Library is partnering with the Hoover school system in its food collection program. During the month of September, seven Hoover schools also will serve as collection points. Those schools are Bluff Park, Deer Valley, Riverchase, Rocky Ridge, Shades Mountain and South Shades Crest elementary schools and Simmons Middle School.
Also, nonperishable food donations will be accepted at special stations set up at the library’s various book drops around town, Jason’s Deli on 3032 John Hawkins Parkway and the East 59 Café in The Village at Lee Branch shopping center.
The library accepts canned, dry and other non-perishable food items, which will be donated to area food banks, including the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama and Green Valley Baptist Church food bank.
“We want to take Food for Fines to the next level,” Rooks said. “Families need to eat every day of the year, not just in the month of September. It is important for us to aim high and think big.”
For more information, go to hooverlibrary.org/wecan.
Photo courtesy of Kelsi Walters/Hoover Public Library
Canned food items collected in the Hoover Public Library's Food for Fines campaign.
