Food Donations Sag In 2012

This year’s Boy Scout food drive which combed local neighborhoods for donated food items for the community’s pantry yielded only 70% of the food collected during the drive last year.  That yield supplied the community’s hungry families until about Christmas.  While Pantry Organizer Amy Brooks says she is pleased with Saturday’s effort, she is hopeful the food collected will last as long.  Brooks says about 210 cases of food were taken in during the drive and she says that will be augmented by what food is dropped off in the boxes at the grocery stores this week.  She says if someone has a bag that was overlooked during the collection, it can either be dropped off in one of those boxes or at the food pantry on Mondays and Thursdays between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.  In addition to actual food items that can be donated throughout the year, Brooks says cash donations are very welcome for those items that don’t come packaged like fresh produce. However, she quickly adds that the shelves are filled and that makes those managing the pantry happy.  Brooks praises the volunteer effort, for the scores of scouts who fanned out to collect the food, the 98 volunteers who stayed at the pantry to sort and box the donated food, and Smiths, Whole Foods and McDonalds who supplied refreshments for all the volunteers.  Brooks says the annual drive is truly a great community event that everyone pitches in for.