The Salvation Army has cut back from opening its food pantry every week to every other week until it can restock the shelves with enough donated food to meet demand.
“I feel that in the past couple of months, we’ve been receiving less donations,” said Capt. Belle Green.
The Tuesday pantry serves an average of 25 to 30 households a week, she said.
The two grocery stores in town, City Market and IGA, are the biggest donors to the food pantry shelves and “have been unbelievably supportive” in donating, she said. Individuals, food drives at the schools and holiday drives also are important additional sources, Green said.
The Salvation Army announced the cutback in a Facebook post last week, hoping that maybe the extra publicity would encourage more people to donate food for the free pantry.
“We’re open to donations year-round.”
The pantry will accept most anything that is shelf-stable, such as rice, pasta, beans, boxed milk, canned soups, cereals — “it all goes quickly,” Green said.
The Salvation Army has a couple of large freezers and can accept perishable foods, including fruits and vegetables if they can be frozen.
Until it can restock and resume weekly hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday, the food pantry at The Salvation Army on Zimovia Highway will be open the first and third Tuesday of each month, and maybe the fifth Tuesday when the calendar provides the opportunity.
“The hope is that this change of hours is temporary, to build back our supply,” Green said. “We don’t want people to come in for a half-empty food box.”
Donors can bring food to the church most any weekday and leave it at the door if no one is there. Though it might be best to call ahead at 907-874-3753 to arrange to drop off foods, rather than leave it outside too long and risk animals getting into the bags or boxes.
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