Just prior to the holidays there was a sudden avalanche of media attention to the plight of the food pantries in the area. Most of the coverage revolved around the theme of bare shelves and the need for additional donations from the community. I have always thought it interesting how so much attention is devoted to the needy just prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas. One might think that people get hungry only in November and December.
Many communities have a food pantry and our little village is no exception. Like our village, our pantry is small and can be found tucked away in a corner of one of our local churches. Every week, calls come in from people in trouble, who are hungry and need food. Some callers are unemployed, victims of downsizing or seasonal layoffs. A death in the family, a broken marriage or a serious illness prompts others to seek assistance. Some people are just victims of the inflation that our leaders tell us is low.
During the latter part of this past summer, we noticed a disturbing trend. The requests for food were going up and our shelves were becoming sparsely populated with groceries. In short, we were running out of food fast. The demand was exceeding the supply and that's not a good thing especially with the holidays on the horizon. The amazing thing about food pantries is that most of the funding comes from the generous support of caring citizens and local businesses that want to help their neighbors.
In our case, the call went out to the community for help, explaining the need through our village Web site, homemade signs posted on bulletin boards, word of mouth and announcements in church bulletins. The response was tremendous. People started food drives and donations began to come in. A wheelbarrow set up in the hardware store was filled again and again. Our local Girl Scout troop organized a door-to-door food drive. School classes collected food the kids brought from home. Churches announced the need during Sunday services and bags and boxes of food came rolling in. One enterprising local craftsman auctioned off one of his creations with the proceeds going to the cause. Local businesses got out their checkbooks along with individuals and made cash contributions while asking for no recognition.
Thanksgiving and Christmas came quickly and the pantry was able to provide food for those in our community who had a need. Families, who otherwise might not have been able to do so, were able to enjoy a traditional holiday dinner. Now that the holidays are behind us, we need to remember that hunger and hard times go on all year long. As our economy continues to struggle, we need to remind ourselves to look after those in need of a helping hand.
Ed Hungness, of Fife Lake, can be reached at edhungness@yahoo.com or care of the Record-Eagle.
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