During the last four days of August, people from across Barren County will come together to address hunger in their communities.

To the Brim, an annual countywide food drive founded 11 years ago by Bharat Mody, a now-retired surgeon, will be Aug. 28-31.

Mody said he was motivated to organize the first To the Brim after seeing that hunger was fairly widespread in the county’s schools.

“When I started going to the schools, I saw a lot of our citizens and children were hungry at one time or another,” he said.

While there were smaller food drives organized by a few organizations, there was no similar effort on a countywide scale at the time, he said.

“There was no cohesive food drive at that time for Glasgow and Barren County,” he said.

This year, To the Brim is collecting food on behalf of Community Relief, though Mody said the Barren County school district’s #BCReadsandFeeds program, which delivers food and books to children during the summer and administers a program that allows students to take food home in backpacks for the weekend, will benefit as well.

Mody said the food drive is seeking nonperishable foods like cereal, granola bars and canned food.

People can make donations at any Houchens location in Barren County or Walmart in Glasgow during the four days of To the Brim, Mody said.

Mody said the food collected during the drive lasts until around Christmas.

At that point, Community Relief dips into $2,000 worth of donated food items from Houchens Industries that typically lasts until March, before using financial donations from the community until the next To the Brim, he said.

“In spite of all of us trying, so many organizations … still, there are times that our citizens and our children face hunger,” he said.

Stacy Janes, Community Relief’s administrative coordinator, said To the Brim is crucial for the organization’s efforts to feed the hungry.

“It is also a necessity for us to keep our pantry stocked,” she said.

Janes said donations and participation have both risen noticeably in the last five years.

“This community definitely steps up each year,” she said, noting that businesses and churches hold their own food drives, with the items collected going toward To the Brim.

Duane Withrow, a co-manager of Houchens IGA at 619 S L Rogers Wells Blvd., said volunteers will be stationed at his Houchens location, and the other ones in the county, and donation bins will be placed in the front of the stores.

Houchens also has bags containing multiple items that can be purchased and then donated directly, Withrow said.

The community response has been “overwhelming,” he said, adding that he thinks this is partly because people know that Mody, who frequently stops in local stores to help volunteers, is heavily involved.

“It has grown tremendously since I’ve been here and I’ve been here nine years,” Withrow said.