The Second Annual WKVI Great Pumpkin Drop has filled the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry, for now.
We asked Cecilia Torres-Bowman, Services Coordinator at the Starke County Food Pantry if she could use all of the food brought to the location.
The Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry shelves are again bare. Cecilia Torres told Ted Hayes yesterday that 279 families were helped with meat and groceries in August. That number reached an all-time high.
“More and more people are turning to the Food Pantry and donations are down,” said Torres. “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.”
The Community Services of Starke County staff is gearing up for the winter season. Cooler weather is right around the corner and they will soon be taking applications for energy assistance to households that meet income guidelines.
Cecilia Torres, Services Coordinator at Community Services of Starke County, says the community has stepped up to the plate with donations to the Food Pantry.
Only three weeks ago, we were reporting that the Food Pantry had no food on the shelves and only one package of hot dogs was in the meat section.
Torres especially wanted to thank officials of the Starke County 4-H Fair Livestock Auction for directing bidders to the food pantry. A number of the winning bidders gave their purchases to the Food Pantry.
Cecilia said the bidders had turkeys, ducks and chickens dressed for distribution.
Starke United Executive Director, Julie Dessauer, announced yesterday that emergency funding has been approved for the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry. A check was sent to the food pantry in the amount of $1,500.
The Food Pantry has expressed the need for donations during the summer to help the 220 families it serves each month. The food pantry has received much needed donations from the public and can use more. For more information on how you can donate, call Cecilia Torres at 772-7070.
The Starke County Food Pantry received a $3,500 check from the Starke County General Unrestricted Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation for the purpose of purchasing meat and food for the food pantry.
Cecilia Torres, Services Coordinator, says that several more donations have come into the food pantry, but more is always welcome. You may drop off your donation at the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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.”
The Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry is running low on food items and Cecilia Torres, Services Coordinator at Community Services of Starke County, says now is the time to donate.
“Right now, we’re in dire need of food,” said Torres. “We have been serving over 250 families a month. As fast as we get food on the shelves, it goes right back out. In addition to regular canned goods and non-perishables, we could also use money. It’s been about every week or so that we’ve been ordering meat and it’s really adding up. We do need any help that we could possibly get.”
