Looking for volunteer opportunities and ways he could help his community, sophomore Koen Pretzlaf found the Monument Crisis Center and soon became a volunteer. Now wanting to extend the center’s reach to the Campo community, Pretzlaf is running a Food Drive for the center from September 22 to September 26 and is looking for students, staff, and parents to donate in bins located outside the attendance office.
The Monument Crisis Center is a non-profit help center located in Concord. The center provides food, education, day care programs, and assistance to at-risk and low-income people in the Contra Costa community.
“I’m helping the Monument Crisis Center restock their pantries,” Pretzlaf said. “I wanted to bring it to Campo because Campo’s a good school and [starting a drive] gets people to know more about the center so they can feed those in need.” Pretzlaf states that this is not the first drive he’s run, as he recently ran another drive for the center at the local Safeway.
Pretzlaf requests that those interested in donating to the center limit their donations to non-perishable goods and no glass donations with the most needed items including cereal, canned tuna, peanut butter, and canned meals. For those who don’t have cans, there will also be flyers posted up with QR codes for alternative methods of donation.
When asked about the process after donation Pretzlaf stated, “[Once the food is] collected, donated, and sorted, it will then be distributed in Concord. [The Drive] helps people in Contra Costa who might not have a stable food supply.”
Pretzlaf says that for those with more questions about the drive they can contact the Monument Crisis Center or his email: [email protected].
