Salina’s annual effort to feed the hungry is underway. Project Salina began on Monday.

Project Salina unites multiple businesses and organizations in an effort to collect food for five agencies that serve meals, or distribute food, throughout the year. Food will be collected throughout the entire month of May.

This year marks 28 years of the effort. Project Salina began back in 1990. It started as an effort to help agencies that provide food when their need is the greatest, in the summer months. The agencies typically see a lot of donations during the holidays, but by the summer months their shelves are getting bare.

In that first year, 23 organizations gathered 56,465 food items for three local agencies. The effort has grown over the years. Last year, 204 organizations participated in the effort, gathering 270,158 food items for five agencies.

Last year 246,821 food items were collected. This year more than 200 organizations will attempt to collect over 243,000 food items for the five agencies that feed Salina’s hungry.

The agencies Project Salina helps include:

• Ashby House
• The Salina Rescue Mission
• The Emergency Aid Food Bank
• The Salvation Army
• The Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas.

Project Salina provides about 40% of their annual food needs.

Rocking M Media Radio Stations this year will be collecting egg noodles, with a goal of 600 packages collected.]