Five years ago Sharon Anderson set out in her neighborhood to gather a few donations. The first year she collected one small wagon of food. That small wagon has turned into a full-blown operation, according to a news release.

Anderson, a local realtor, enlisted the help of her colleagues at Keller Williams Realty Carmel Valley/Del Mar to join her in the food collection. The donations made went to STEP (Support The Enlisted Project), an organization which donates items to local military families who have been living on the edge.

STEP works with the enlisted families to reduce current debt and get on sound financial footing.

With the help of her colleagues at Keller Williams Realty Carmel Valley/Del Mar, this year Anderson was able to make a record-breaking donation of 6.5 tons of food.

Sharon Anderson with some of the donations.

(Sharon Anderson)

Thousands of food donation bags were distributed in the community. The response was overwhelming. As the realtors began bringing the food back to their office the food just kept coming. “Every time I came into work there were more bags of groceries. We filled an entire room and had to start filling another,” Anderson said in the news release. “I’m already thinking and working on the food drive for next year. The amount of donations grows every year.”

Collections in the food drive room.

(Sharon Anderson)

People have been especially generous. Some neighbors donated two, three and four bags of food.

On Friday, Dec. 9, Anderson and her colleagues loaded up a box truck filled with food items ranging from canned vegetables, cereal, mac-n-cheese, stuffing and much more. Because of the amazing response from the community they were able to donate about 13,000 pounds of food. The food was distributed to over 400 military families through STEP.

Anderson thanks the community members who supported this great cause to help those in the community who have sacrificed so much.