January 10, 2024
Last Friday night, I would imagine many of us fell asleep with visions of snowflakes floating in our heads...only to wake to a cold, rainy, blustery morning. Questions arose right away. Are the roads icy? Is the Pantry open? To put it all to rest, if we are not open on the regular schedule, we will notify WLOS of our closing and asked to be included in the scroll across the bottom of the TV screen. Several neighbors were already in line when the early birds arrived at 6:00 am to open up. Food was provided to 94 families representing 334 individuals. We welcomed eight new families.
Families shopped with volunteers and were delighted to receive the bag of freshly harvested romaine lettuce from our garden along with donated items; tomatoes, jalapeños, peppers, potatoes, and onions. The shelves were fully stocked with milk, eggs, soup, fruit, veggies, beans, and miscellaneous foods like flour and salad dressing. Bakery items from City Bakery and Bimbos topped off the selections.
A grant from the Community Foundation of WNC was awarded to the Pantry to purchase two refrigerators, one freezer, and a scale. The abundance of fresh produce from the garden has increased our need for additional refrigerator space. Kim P. and Jim put together the scale for us on Saturday morning. "Some assembly was required!!"
Donations this week included 25 cases of salad from Bright Farms. Other donations included Flavor-First-tomatoes, jalapeños, and peppers; Wal-Mart and Big Lots-misc items and food, Project Dignity-feminine products, Humane Society- dog/cat food and MilkCo-milk. Calvary Episcopal, Nativity Lutheran, Fletcher UMC, the Tabernacle of Praise Churches, and other anonymous donors contributed their time, food, and misc. items during the week.
On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you to our volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity. We thank you and appreciate your food and monetary donations.
