'They've outdone themselves': Teen Miss Leesburg donates a ton to the Leesburg Food Bank

LEESBURG — Teen Miss Leesburg has broken a 35-year record at the Leesburg Food Bank.

On Friday morning, 14-year-old Reese Ponds and her crew unloaded 2,000 pounds of food and other necessities to donate to the community — the largest ever donation from the annual Miss Leesburg Scholarship Program food drive. From canned food to toiletries, the one-ton collection filled an entire trailer.

“I went into this just wanting to make a difference," Reese said. "I didn’t even realize that it would come down to this much food, so it just starstruck me that these people want to help me, but not only me, to help the people in our community. It almost makes me tear up every time I say that."

Now, the Leesburg Food Bank is eager to put this enormous donation to good use.

"The times that we're going through right now, you have no idea how much we need this," said Brenda Duff, the food bank's Warehouse Manager.

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'110% effort'

Reese worked through the month of February asking for food and monetary donations to support the food drive. And the community did not disappoint.

“We put boxes everywhere, we’ve got fliers out, we got donations at every place we put boxes at. We got tons of food from my church, and Phillip’s, and banks. Honestly my living room is packed. There is nowhere to sit — it’s just insane," Reese said.

She said that the food drive was a family affair. Reese's mom, Kerry Ponds, was the "go-pick-up lady."

“So she would collect the money, I would take her to the store, she would get all the items, and then I would go pick up where we had boxes and such," Kerry said. "I’m super proud of her because she literally has thrived off of this."

Reese's dad echoed Kerry's sentiment.

“I’m super proud," Michael Ponds said. "She knew with the pandemic over the last couple years that people really needed help and that's why she really put 110% effort into making sure that this was a successful drive."

'I'm in awe'

Not only did Reese receive hundreds of pounds of food donations, she also raised $2,000 worth of donations that her family used to buy groceries for the Leesburg Food Bank.

Many businesses and companies helped sponsor the food drive, too, including Leeco Pest Control and Timberwood Properties, which donated $500 each.

Don Diamant, the president of the board of directors and daily operations at the Leesburg Food Bank said Reese did a "terrific job."

"They've outdone themselves from past years," he said. "I've been here for 16 years and this is the best they've ever done."

Volunteer Tom Brown took notice, too.

"I'm in awe of what the girls were able to accomplish," he said. "I think this absolutely fabulous and it will do great things for the community."

The food bank has been partnering with the Miss Leesburg Scholarship Program for decades.

Every year, girls ages 4 to 19 compete for titles in the Miss Leesburg Pageant. The winners earn scholarship money and represent the city for the following year, attending community events and doing community service.

The food drive is one of three big events the young ladies host every year, as well as a jacket drive and a diaper drive.

Linda Watts, the program director, said she was overjoyed with Reese's achievement.

"Every year, the Teen Miss Leesburg, this is their project and they work hard," Watts said. "Every year they’ve done really well. But this year, Reese has really over exceeded all of it."

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Teen Miss Leesburg breaks record for annual Miss Leesburg food drive