The Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry is in need of donations.
“Our shelves are just about bare, there’s nothing on them,” said Cecilia Torres, Services Coordinator. “More and more people are turning to the Food Pantry and donations are down. We receive no government subsidies at all except for commodities and we haven’t received those in almost three months. We get our food from churches, organizations, and individuals who open up their pocketbooks and their hearts to us. We’ve gotten a few dollar donations but we’ve been spending over $1,200 a month on meat alone. Right now I have a couple of packages of hot dogs and that’s it.”
She was asked how many people are using the food pantry.
“We’ve been serving 15-20 a day. We serve 250 families last month. What we have on our shelves will be gone. Usually what we see is a family whose husband is either out of work, laid off, or hours are cut. They normally have two or three children. We have seen an influx of older people. The elderly are now coming in too because they can’t make it on what they’re receiving each month.”
Torres urges you to give what you can.
“Whatever you have an excess of, or if you’re in the store and it’s two for a dollar, take one and give us one. We’d appreciate anything that you could help us with. We need canned vegetables. We’re down to corn. That’s all we have. We also are in need of macaroni and cheese”
“We’re open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and you can drop off your donation at any time. If you need help, give me a call at 772-7070 and I’ll make arrangements to pick it up.”
