Donate food, see a movie for free Saturday in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The idea is simple: bring five canned food items to the Galaxy 16 Cine in Cedar Rapids on Saturday and receive free admission to any movie that day starting before 5 p.m.

Bring 10 additional items - 15 or more total - and you'll also receive a free movie pass for a future visit.

The impact is substantial, say organizers of the 31st annual 'Cans Film Festival” to benefit The Salvation Army's Tree of Lights campaign.

'It's a very big drive for us,” said Lia Pontarelli, director of development and communications for The Salvation Army in Cedar Rapids. 'You're talking about feeding people for the coming year.”

Pontarelli said this year's local goal is 20,000 cans. Last year's drive netted 16,050 cans, she said, adding the food is distributed through the agency's supplemental food boxes and community feeding program, through which breakfast and lunch are served Monday through Friday throughout the year.

'We use this food for months. The more we get now, the better the rest of the year is,” she said. 'The less we have to spend on food, the more we can spend on other programs.”

The Cans Film Festival is a project of The Salvation Army and St. Louis-based Wehrenberg Theatres, which operates more than a dozen theatres in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota, including the Galaxy 16 Cine at 5340 Council St. NE in Cedar Rapids.

Last year, more than 220,000 cans were collected throughout the four states. Organizers hope to set a record this year, topping the 2011 total of about 335,000 cans.

As an added incentive, Wehrenberg Theatres is again planning to award a yearlong movie pass to person who makes the single largest donation on Saturday.

Showing Saturday at the Galaxy 16 Cine are the movies 'Moana,” 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” 'Trolls,” 'Allied,” 'Doctor Strange,” 'Arrival,” 'Bad Santa 2,” 'Incarnate,” 'Hacksaw Ridge,” 'Almost Christmas,” 'The Edge of Seventeen,” 'Rules Don't Apply,” 'Moonlight,” 'The Accountant” and 'Dear Zindagi.”

For a full schedule of times, visit wehrenberg.com.

Pontarelli said she's looking forward to seeing the results of this year's drive.

'We're always completely overwhelmed with the giving heart of Cedar Rapids and we expect this to be another example of how giving our community is,” she said. 'It's a wonderful opportunity for you and your family to go see a movie for free while making an incredible impact on another family.”