Thanks to the efforts of Bulloch County farmer Lamar DeLoach, 4,000 pounds of produce was delivered Tuesday to the United Way of Effingham County.

The produce was divided up by about 20 United Way volunteers, to be delivered to the five area food pantries and the Treutlen House.

The food was made up of onions, sweet potatoes, and mustard and turnip greens.

United Way of Effingham County Executive Director Bonnie Dixon said the donated produce likely would have been plowed under or thrown away if not for this program. She said this food wasn’t cosmetically good enough for the grocery store shelves, but was “delicious.”

DeLoach, a farmer, goes around to various Bulloch farms collecting donated produce to give to this program. The donations are intended only for this program in Effingham County, though he is giving some thought to expanding the program in other areas.

The Farmers Garden program is an ongoing program of the United Way of Effingham County and Dixon said that during the summer and fall growing seasons they sometimes get deliveries like this every 10 days or so.

She said there will be another big delivery the week of Christmas.