The United Way of Lake County gave away 712 hams on Tuesday that will be given to families in need for this Easter as part of its Feed Lake County food drive.

The hams will be distributed through 48 local food banks.

The United Way of Lake County bought the hams from Giant Eagle, who delivered them to the charity's Mentor office.

From there, volunteers from the Mentor High School football team and Lake House Men's Residential distributed the hams to the food pantries as they came to pick them up. 

Thus far, the 2012 Feed Lake County campaign has raised about 18,000 pounds of food and more than $30,000. Cash donations to Feed Lake County are used throughout the year to make purchases for the food pantries in April, September, November and December.

The local chapter of the United Way hopes to raise $60,000 and collect 60,000 pounds of food before the Feed Lake County food drive ends April 19.

Food can be dropped off at the old Ethan Allen building at the Great Lakes Mall on April 5 or 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. It can also be brought to the United Way of Lake County's headquarters on Progress Parkway during office hours.

So far, more than 60 businesses and organizations across the county have committed to running a Feed Lake County campaign. If your business or organization would like to host a food drive, please contact Gayle Sikula at 440-639-1082 or GSikula@UWLC.org