While summer for many means enjoying time off at the cottage or going away on special vacations, the EWCS food bank gets no chance for a vacation.
The need for the food bank is growing, and between January to June this year, the food bank program from the agency has distributed more than 27,000 pounds of food or a total dollar value of more than $67,000.
The shelves are showing gaps and the agency is in need of help so it can continue to support the more than 100 families who rely on this program.”
Summer is always such a hard time for the food bank,” says manager of community and volunteer services Erika Westcott.
“We are extremely fortunate for the fresh produce donations that we are receiving from many in our community through the grow an extra row initiative and from area farms, it gets harder to keep the dry good staples on the shelves as donations tend to decline. It is also becoming a struggle to be able to provide our food bank families with food support for things like milk or meat products.”
If area residents are able to help, either by donating food or providing gift cards to local area grocery stores to purchase items, it would be greatly appreciated so the food bank can get through the summer crunch time, food bank officials urge.
Items that are needed now include canned pasta, Kraft dinner, dry pasta, canned stews, tuna and salmon, granola bars, shampoo, Kleenex, canned fruit (peaches, pears, fruit salad), hearty soups, jam, peanut butter and non-sugar cereals such as Shreddies, Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Rice Krispies.
