The Crisis Control Ministry will be having its 15th annual food drive at the Dixie Classic Fair on Wednesday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fair attendees can donate 5 non-perishable food items and receive one free ticket to the fair that day only. Suggested items are canned fruit, rice, dried or canned beans, pasta — anything that is shelf stable and not in glass jars. Volunteers and trucks are located at each gate to collect the food and distribute the tickets. All food collected will stock Crisis Control Ministry’s Winston-Salem and Kernersville food pantries.

Facts:

• More than 200 Crisis Control volunteers will work at six gates all day to accept food items and hand out tickets.

• In 2017, the event saw eight 22-foot trucks filled to capacity and a total of 76,970 pounds of food.

• Donated items will stock Crisis Control’s Client Choice food pantries with nonperishable food items for more than six months.

• Crisis Control Ministry’s two locations — Winston-Salem and Kernersville — provide nourishing groceries to almost 300 families every month. Forsyth County ranks among the top U.S. metropolitan areas in food insecurity (not knowing where they will get their next meal).

• This year’s goal is 65,000 pounds of food