County Fair Food Drive tallies record-breaking donations for FeedMore WNY

The results are in, and the 2023 Erie County Fair Opening Day Food Drive was another record-breaking success!


On Wednesday, Aug. 9, Fairgoers had the opportunity to receive free admission to Opening Day of the 183rd Erie County Fair by donating four or more canned food items to benefit FeedMore WNY.


Thanks to FeedMore WNY’s wonderful partnership with the Erie County Fair and the generosity of the community, a total of 140,834 pounds of food was collected to benefit Western New Yorkers facing food insecurity.


“FeedMore WNY is incredibly grateful for our amazing partners at the Erie County Fair and our community members who continue to make this food drive possible. The Erie County Fair Opening Day Food Drive is our largest one-day summertime food drive; we greatly rely on these donations to replenish the shelves of our nearly 400 partner food pantries and hunger-relief agencies throughout our four-county service area,” Tara A. Ellis, president and CEO of FeedMore WNY, said.


“We are blown away by the generosity of this community for raising 140,834 pounds of food to help feed our neighbors in need,” she added. “Not only did we exceed our goal, but we exceeded last year’s totals by 46 percent! This will make a huge impact in nourishing our food-insecure community members.”