PINETOPS — ABB's charitable organization, the ABB Foundation, is set to donate food and money earned from an employee-sponsored food drive to Tarboro Community Outreach.

Thomas Hansen, manufacturing engineering and maintenance manager with ABB in Pinetops, is heading up the plant's first-time effort with this particular fund drive. The goal, Hansen said, is for ABB employees to collect 1,650 pounds of canned and non-perishable goods for donation to the Tarboro non-profit organization.

"If you don't set a goal to try to reach, you'll get 100 pounds" in donations, he said.

For every pound of food collected through Dec. 4, ABB will also donate one dollar to Tarboro Community Outreach's program.

Mary Ann Czaja, executive director of TCO, said the ABB Foundation's effort is "wonderful," and noted that the company has been a strong supporter of her program for a while.

"(ABB is) mindful that we're here" serving Edgecombe County and the surrounding area from Tarboro, Czaja added.

As of Monday, Hansen said 200 pounds of canned and non-perishable foods had been collected from employees. Pinetops being one of the smallest of the company's 18 manufacturing plants in North America, Hansen said his plant has a smaller goal than the 3,000 pounds of food being sought at the other plants.

If the Pinetops plant is able to meet, or exceed, its goal, he added that "I'm sure will come up with something" to mark the occasion.

Jon Rennie, general manager of the Pinetops plant, said the food drive "is a great way for us to help the local community and get matching dollars from the ABB Foundation."

Hansen added that the ABB Foundation had earlier granted a matching total of $4,500 to the Edgecombe County chapter of Relay for Life, for the amount of money raised for the organization by the company's group.