The Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Holiday Food Drive officially kicks off Monday and runs through Dec. 14. Patch's big, green tent is the collection point, in the lobby of Mount Pleasant Village Hall.

Last year, when we found out the Holiday Train wasn't stopping in Sturtevant, a group of folks from both villages got together to plan a food drive to try and fill the void. We had Santa arriving on a fire truck, face painting, live music, an ornament-making station and an amazing refreshment center of cookies, hot cocoa and coffee.

All-in-all, we raised over $1,000 in cash and collected almost 1,700 pounds of food for Racine County Food Bank. CP Rail also contributed a $1,000 check.

This year, the Holiday Train is stopping Sturtevant, but the need in our community remains great. All food and cash raised during the train's visit stays local, and CP Rail is matching those funds and then sending that money to the East Coast for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Instead of having just a one-day event, we're having a week-long food drive, put together by Logan Martin, the community development coordinator in Mount Pleasant.

"I was shocked at how well we did last year for a first-year event," he said. "The food drive definitely helps to fill the need here in our community. My goal is to increase the contributions so we hit $1,500 and double the food to 3,000 pounds."

Martin delivered fliers (see attached) to area businesses and hopes donations will roll in similarly to last year when Shorewest Realtors alone dropped off 700 pounds of food at the collection point.

Can we beat our totals from 2011? Of course!

"Let's fill the tent and show hunger who's boss," Martin concluded.