Totals released for Thanksgiving in July food drive

IOWA CITY - Food pantries in Johnson County now know just how much food they received during the Thanksgiving in July fundraiser and food drive.

In all, four pantries in Johnson County collected 223,985 pounds of food during the campaign, which is meant to help the pantries during the summer when need often increases while children are home from school.

Organizations in Des Moines, Muscatine and the Quad Cities also participated in the program, according to a news release from Mercy Health Network.

Altogether, they received 293,352 pounds of food this year - or more than 146 tons.

Since its inception in 1999, the Thanksgiving in July drive has taken in 659 tons of food.

The 2017 breakdown for the Johnson County pantries is as follows:

' Crisis Center of Johnson County - 183,674 pounds.

' North Liberty Community Pantry - 20,011 pounds.

' Coralville Community Food Pantry - 16,300 pounds.

' IC Compassion - 4,000 pounds.

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