The Pantry Partners food bank of Stevensville completed its food box give-away on Tuesday, December 22. Cleo Guenther, director of Pantry Partners, said 360 boxes were given out or delivered to those in need.
“This feeds about 1,225 people”, she said.
Guenther said she has noticed that there are more extended families living together. “Now we have grandma and grandpa, along with maybe even aunts and uncles, living with a family, and so we need to provide larger boxes.”
The Back Country Horsemen, along with other volunteers, came early on Tuesday and assembled the boxes that included everything needed for a holiday dinner. Then, as the individuals picked up the boxes, they also were able to get some cookies or doughnuts, and, if there were small children, a half gallon of milk. Students from Florence and Stevensville also assisted with putting the baskets together and then helped carry the boxes out for the recipients.
Guenther begins planning for the food box give-away early and watches for sales in all the stores. This is ‘extra’ from the regular food given out at Pantry Partners and she has a separate budget for this. She tries to buy as much as she can locally. There are donors who give specifically to this, just like there are those who contribute to the overall Pantry Partners fund raising drives. The people who receive the boxes are those who use Pantry Partners and had to sign up ahead of time to receive a box.