JCPENNEY WILL HOLD FOOD DRIVE

A food drive sponsored by JCPenney will be held Wednesday and Thursday at the Cape Girardeau store.

The store will collect can goods at its West Park Mall entrance and the Styling Salon from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. both days.

The food will be donated to the Safe House, the Gibson Center, Salvation Army and FISH.

JCPenney will offer a coupon for 25 percent off any regular-priced or red-ticket merchandise for each food item donated. There is no limit on food donations or the issuance of coupons.

"This is something new; we have never tried it here before," said Jerry Cady, general merchandise manager for the JCPenney store.

Cady said the company's stores in the St. Louis area and other regions have held successful food drives recently. A food drive at a store in Topeka, Kan., netted 5,000 cans of food, he said.

"Some of the success of the other stores influenced us to go ahead and do it," Cady said. "We would like to see it become an annual deal."