BY DONNA SWICEGOOD

As part of a nationwide food drive, Randy Marion Ford Lincoln set out to collect 200 pounds of food for Iredell Christian Ministries on September 15.

The Statesville dealership didn’t just meet that goal. It smashed it by collecting more than 10 times that amount as part of the Ford Motor Company’s largest food drive. The cans and boxes of donated food filled the bed of a truck inside the dealership.

On Friday, members of the staff, including General Manager Rhyne Scott, were joined by Jennifer Marion Mills, vice president at Randy Marion Automotive, to present the collected food to Brandi Jones, director of Iredell Christian Ministries.

“This is amazing,” Jones said as she looked at the 2,135.3 pounds of food at the dealership.

And that wasn’t all of the food that ICM is receiving, Scott said.

An additional 820 pounds was delivered from Second Harvest Food Bank directly to ICM through the collection process.

The donations were collected from September 15-25.

Scott said this is the first year Randy Marion Ford Lincoln has taken part in such a campaign and was thrilled with the response. Donations came in from the community, Ford Motor Company, Randy Marion Ford Lincoln and its employees and through the LIz Burns Endowment at United Way of Iredell.

Scott said this effort is a reflection of dealership owner Randy Marion. “His policy is to help the community,” he said.

And, he said, this outpouring of donations speaks to the generosity of this community.

For Iredell Christian Ministries, the donations will mean food for families in the Statesville area.

“We serve about 920 families a month,” she said. “This means so much. This 2,100 pounds of food is about two weeks worth of food.”

She said donations to ICM are steady and that a lot of local churches and individuals help keep shelves stocked. The donations from the Randy Marion Ford Lincoln food drive are a big bonus.

Scott said the dealership decided to partner with ICM because of its long history of serving those in need in the community.

“It will go where it can make the most impact,” he said.

Jones said she cherishes the support of the Randy Marion dealerships.

“They have always been a big supporter of Iredell Christian Ministries,” she said.