BEL AIR, Md. — A Harford County couple is celebrating their 10th anniversary of doing food drives by changing things up a little bit.
Jim and Doris Ullrich are holding a "Treats for the Troops" drive and collecting snack and junk food to send to troops that are deployed.
For the last 10 years, the Ullrichs have collected food for local food banks and food pantries. They use Jim's elaborate train exhibit in his basement called "The Town of Jimmyville" to get donations and sponsors.
"We’ve helped people in Harford County and Baltimore County all these years, and we just wanted to kick off this 10th anniversary of doing this, something different," said Jim.
The Ullrichs are looking to collect items like candy, chips, hot sauce, Pop Tarts, and popcorn. They'll be taking in donations until mid-July.
Ullrich says Goetze's Candy in Baltimore donated 150 bags of candy and Domino Sugar donated cinnamon sugar shakers.
They are also looking for monetary donations to help ship the 150 care packages to the troops. The cost to ship one box is around $20.
JIm says it brings him a lot of joy to help others, whether they are in his community or thousands of miles away.
"I’m not doing this for any big personal gains. I’m just doing it for the sake of helping my fellow people out because there’s a lot of people out there who need food," he said.
The Ullrichs will be at Redner's in Bel Air on May 18 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to collect snacks and junk food.
You can also drop off donations to the following locations:
- Fallston Library
- Shop-Rite at The Festival
- Shop-Rite at Forest Hill
- Trinity Lutheran Church on Philadelphia Road
You can also email Jim at trainman31@comcast.net if you need to have a donation picked up.
