Holiday generosity helps stock local food pantry
Holiday generosity helps stock local food pantry
By MARVIN BAKER
EDITOR
Now that the holidays are over and we’ve settled into our routines, for some, routine means living through another day without a meal.
But thanks to the generosity of a giving public and the ALCO discount store in New Town, those less fortunate can now pick up a variety of food items to alleviate issues like having to skip meals in order to make ends meet.
A food drive held at ALCO in November and December netted a pickup truck full of food items that the Rev. Grant Patterson delivered late last week to the New Town Ministers Association Food Pantry.
“ALCO had an idea of food drives in all their stores in the Midwest that corporate would match,” Patterson said. “What they’ve given us exceeds what was given from the community so this is a very generous gift from ALCO.”
According to Patterson, the items were stocked in the food pantry, which is located in the United Church of Christ. He said the pantry contains food items for a family’s needs as well as a variety of personal care items.
“I was astounded,” Patterson said after he stopped at ALCO to pick up the bounty. “There are people who don’t have enough money to buy these things and it certainly helps them out.”
According to Patterson, the need for a food pantry does indeed exist in New Town. With all the oil activity and low unemployment rate, one wouldn’t think poverty exists in this community, but it is here and the local clergy are working together to reduce the burden.
