The Sweet Home Emergency Ministries food pantry received a total of 22 pallets of food from the LDS Bishop’s Storehouse on Thanksgiving week.
SHEM volunteers expressed their gratitude for all who volunteered their time and the many donations the food pantry received during the holiday season.
“The shelves look so much nicer,” board member Debby Lawrence said. “They were so bare before.”
A semi truck from Salt Lake City arrived early on Nov. 26 to a group of waiting volunteers who were ready to unload the truck as efficiently as possible so the driver could get back home in time for the holiday.
Non-perishable food items received included: dry milk, hot cocoa, cake mix, pasta, peanut butter, beans, diced tomatoes, pork & beans, corn, pancake mix, green beans, macaroni and cheese, flour, applesauce, and dishwasher liquid.
SHEM also received Thanksgiving donations from the high school Leadership Class, Gregory Home Team, and the Sweet Home Elkettes.
Food banks such as SHEM have been finding it more difficult to source enough food in recent years as more families begin seeking help and provisions decline. Ilynn Winn, from JustServe, helped secure the generous donation from the LDS after she heard about SHEM’s struggle to access enough food.
“I have not seen this pantry as low as we were in decades,” Pantry Manager Cindy Rice said.
She was particularly happy to see that everything received by the different donations last month was shelf-stable. Rice pointed out items of particular interest that recipients have been happy to secure included peanut butter, macaroni, potato flakes, applesauce, flour, and cake mix. According to Rice, those items can be hard to come by.
“It’s definitely been a blessing,” she said.