Thanks for the Can-Do Spirit

Delivering donated food to the St. Gabriel's food pantry...

We want to thank everyone who donated to our Can Your Fines food drive (and that's a lot of people!)

Because of you, we delivered more than three dozen boxes of food to pantries at St. John Vianney and St. Bede in Mentor and St. Gabriel in Concord Township this week.

That’s a lot of food. And that food will help a lot of families.

A good deed is its own reward, but we also waived nearly $900 in library fines to those who donated.

Thanks again for your kindheartedness and generosity. You keep our community great.

Marty, a volunteer at St. Bede the Venerable, helps transport the donations we received during our Can Your Fines Food Drive.

Can Your Fines food drive returns to Mentor Library

Help those in need and have your library fines forgiven.

The Can Your Fines food drive is returning to Mentor Public Library and, once again, library patrons can donate food in exchange for forgiveness of their fines.

The food drive will run from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31 and people can donate at any of Mentor Public Library’s branches.

The donated food will go to local food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney. The pantries will, in turn, give it to families in need.

Each nonperishable food item that somebody donates will be worth up to a dollar off of the fines they owe. People can get up to five dollars in fines waived this way.

Patrons can only trade food for fines once during the Can Your Fines food drive. Those whose fines have gone to collections are not eligible to participate.

Last year, patrons donated hundreds of pounds of food to their neighbors in need. We hope to collect even more this year.

Thank You for Canning Your Fines

You donated hundreds of pounds of food to help your neighbors in need. Thank you!

You made a difference.

Whether you donated a single box of pasta or emptied your entire pantry, you made a difference by donating to this year's Can Your Fines food drive.

The food you gave may already be on the table of a local family who needs it. We delivered your donations to food pantries at St. Bede, St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney on Tuesday.

A volunteer at St. Gabriel's food pantry helps unload food you donated.

While we don't know exactly how many pounds of food you gave, permit us to use a more anecdotal measurement. We filled two dozen boxes—which, in turn, filled the entire Mentor Library van—with your donations.

That's a lot of food. And that food will help a lot of families.

So thank you. I know we thanked you before, but it bears repeating.

Thank you for giving. Thank you for caring. And thank you for making a difference.

The weather during the deliveries may look drizzly, but everything's relative. Last year, it snowed.

Can Your Fines food drive returns to Mentor Library

Dropping off donations from last year's Can Your Fines food drive.

The Can Your Fines food drive is returning to Mentor Public Library and, once again, library patrons can donate food in exchange for forgiveness of their fines.

The food drive will run all through November and people can donate at any of Mentor Public Library’s branches.

The donated food will go to local food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney. The pantries will, in turn, give it to families in need.

Each nonperishable food item that somebody donates will be worth up to a dollar off of the fines they owe. People can get up to five dollars in fines waived this way.

Patrons can only trade food for fines once during the Can Your Fines food drive. Those whose fines have gone to collections are not eligible to participate.

Last year, patrons donated 880 pounds of food during the Can Your Fines drive.

For more information, contact the Mentor Public Library at (440) 255-8811.

Thanks for the Can-Do Spirit

Sorry that we don't have better photos. It was COLD that day.

We want to thank everybody who donated during our annual Can Your Fines food drive.

Thanks to you, we were able to donate about 880 pounds of food to the food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney on Monday.

That food, in turn, will go to families in the community that need it.

A good deed is its own reward, but we also waived nearly $700 in library fines to those who donated.

By the way, this 880 pounds is in addition to the 175 pounds of food you all donated to the Cleveland Food Bank during the Feed Ohio food drive in autumn.

Thanks again for your kindheartedness and generosity. You keep our community great.

Joe sorts the donations at the St. John Vianney Food Pantry.

Hunger Games at the Mentor Library

Short post today. We thought we'd share some of the photos from the Hunger Games competition we had for teens this Saturday.

No, the teens did not try to kill one another.

Lexy hits both targets while practicing her aim.

Julia tries to sneak through our obstacle course without tripping any wires.

Nicole makes a paracord bracelet because you never know when you're going to fall down a ravine.

Andrew unveils a mean fastball during target practice.

Speaking of hunger, the Can Your Fines food drive begins today at all Mentor Public Library branches.

The way the food drive works is simple: If you donate food (which we, in turn, will donate to the local food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney,) then we'll take money off the library fines you owe.

For more information on Can Your Fines, click here.

Donate food in exchange for library fine forgiveness during Can Your Fines

Most people don't need an incentive to do something nice.

For example, we held a food drive earlier this year and you donated 175 pounds of food just because you wanted to help people who needed it.

Well, we're asking you to give again but this time the Mentor Public Library wants to give you something in return.

That's right. It's the return of the Can Your Fines food drive.

The way it works is simple: If you donate food (which we, in turn, will donate to the local food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney,) then we'll take money off the library fines you owe.

Here are the specifics:

• The food drive runs between Nov. 25 and Dec. 31.
• You get $1 off your fines for each nonperishable food item you donate. You can have up to $5 in fines waived this way.
• It's only a 1-time offer, meaning you can't come in every day between now and New Years, donate food and have $5 taken off the fines you owe. (However, you can absolutely donate food as many times you want; but we can only take off fines the first time.)
• You can donate at any of the Mentor Public Library branches.
• Every patron with a library card, whether child or adult, is eligible to participate; but if your fines have already been turned over to a collection agency, then we can't waive your fines.

During the Can Your Fines drive last year, you all donated hundreds of pounds of food that went to local families who needed it.

We hope to see that much generosity again this year.

If you have any questions about Can Your Fines, you can call the Mentor Public Library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 213.