Sierra-at-Tahoe providing incentives to give to food bank

Sierra-at-Tahoe is collecting canned food to the Food Bank of El Dorado County.

Titled CANucopia, Sierra is encouraging guests to bring canned non-perishable foods such as soup, pasta, crackers, and pasta sauce to the collection bin located at the base of the mountain next to the season pass office until Jan. 12.

Sierra will motivate guests to bring canned food with the incentive of getting the resort’s general manager, John Rice, to participate in a variety of activities based on volume goals. If guests fill up one bin before Dec. 23, Rice will sing and play holiday carols at Sierra Resort on Christmas Eve. If two bins are collected by Jan. 1, kids in the Wild Mountain Children’s Center will get to throw pies at Rice. If three bins are filled by Jan. 12, Rice will allow customers the opportunity to hit a target and submerge him in a dunk tank.

According to Feeding America’s 2011 Map the Meal Gap study, 15.26 percent of El Dorado County, or 27,850 individuals are food insecure. Food insecurity is the USDA’s measure for lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life.

The Food Bank of El Dorado County provides food assistance on a daily basis to more than 40 local emergency food response agencies, including battered women’s shelters, senior centers, local food pantries, under privileged youth programs, youth shelters, soup kitchens, maternity homes, and more.