Day of the Corn

The volunteer event Day of the Corn kicked off its eighth year early Saturday morning. Five thousand ears of corn were donated and the volunteers worked hard to be able to give back to the community.

Thousands of ears of corn, dozens of volunteers and hours of work to feed those in need were all contributed.

“Richard Johnson of Grove City Gardens donates the corn, and from then on it is brought over here. Their ward, or a scout group husks it, they bring it to us in bags. We blanch it, cool it, cut it and bag it. And then it’s taken over to the pantry that we’ll use year-round when people need it for the community dinner table that starts next month,” said the project overseer Randy Shiosaki.

The purpose of the event is to get enough corn to be able to feed the needy and homeless during the Community Dinner Table.

“Community Dinner Table is a multi-faith organization that provides food for the under-served in our community. During the winter time, we’ll provide a hot meal once a week, every Tuesday night, anybody who wants to come. We’ll serve between 250 to 400 meals every week,” said Community Dinner Table board member Chris Cannon.

Grove City Gardens donated all of this corn, and the amazing volunteers processed all of it.

“You’re helping your fellow man whether he’s hungry, whether he’s lonely. It not only feeds the soul, but the heart. And you just have this great sensation of helping your fellow man,” Shiosaki said.

“The great thing about our organization that I really enjoy is we have people with different faith backgrounds that get together — work side-by-side and we find out how much we have in common. We build a lot of fellowship and friendship,” said Cannon.

The Community Dinner Table starts in October and runs for about six months.