ORANGE PARK – Waste Not Want Not needs your help.

Waste Not Want Not is a 501(c)(3) charity organization responsible for getting millions of pounds of food onto the plates of those in need each year. Its volunteers bring in a million pounds of food that would otherwise go unused each year from local restaurants and grocery stores while the organization’s large box truck picks up another million pounds of food each year from larger food vendors.

That truck is currently out of commission and Waste Not Want Not could use your help.

“It’s unclear what happened but the engine has been destroyed,” Executive Director Sandra Staudt-Killea said. “It was destroyed through a lack of oil. Our mechanics told us that the only way the oil could have been drained the way it had been drained is if somebody intentionally did that.”

Staudt-Killea said based on what the mechanics have told her, it seems that somebody vandalized the truck in some way. Midway through March, the truck’s engine light came on and the truck was towed to a mechanic. The mechanics said the plugs for the oil pan were missing and that because of that, the oil was gone. The lack of oil is what caused the engine to partially seize.

The plugs were replaced, new oil was put in and the next day, the engine stopped again. The oil was drained, and mechanics found metal flakes in the oil pan which, indicative of a catastrophic failure.

After researching their options, Staudt-Killea and the Waste Not Want Not board determined that it’d be cost-effective to purchase a new box truck than to replace the engine in the old truck.

The new truck, logo and all, is estimated to cost $50,000 and the organization needs all of the help it can get right now.

Roughly $3,300 have been raised by 47 people in the fundraiser’s 22 days. If you’d like to donate, you can visit the Waste Not Florida Facebook page or head to https://www.facebook.com/donate/581680262436525/10157002574925848/.

Waste Not Want Not is leasing a truck for six months in the meantime but is hoping to raise enough funds to purchase a new truck before the lease is up.

“That truck was responsible for 50% of our food rescued,” Staudt-Killea said. “That’s one million pounds of food going to people that need it.”