ROCHELLE — 102.3 The Coyote held its 16th Annual 2 Ton Thanksgiving Food Drive on Thursday at Prescott Brothers Ford in Rochelle. 

All donations stayed local, helping the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry. Both food and monetary donations were accepted. Prescott Brothers Sales Manager Chad Young said the food drive went “great” and donations came in steadily. 

“Chuck O’Brien and everybody from the radio station have been down here all day,” Young said. We've been working hard. I set a personal goal of $10,000, we're going to get there. So far, so good. I think we'll definitely blow the doors off of everything that we've been trying to do."

Young said the food pantry will hand out 250 Thanksgiving dinners Saturday to residents in need. 

“A lot of the money goes towards that and the food goes right back into the food pantry to take care of families locally in Rochelle that could use a little extra help when it gets cold and through the winter months,” Young said. “Even all year, we know it's been a tough year. We’ll help however we can."

This year was the first time the radio station’s event was held at Prescott Brothers Ford. Young said he saw a lot of local businesses make donations. He and O’Brien said the event shows how supportive the community is.

“16 years ago it started as a nice little fundraiser for the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry and it's just kind of grown since then,” O’Brien said. “A new location this year and I think we're approaching a record number of not just food donations, but monetary donations too. And it's in a year when we went through COVID-19. We're pretty sure it's a record. It just speaks to how great the community is.”