Hundreds benefit from food pantry's turkey vouchers - Winston-Salem Journal

Hundreds benefit from food pantry's turkey vouchers - Winston-Salem Journal

CLEMMONS — The Clemmons Food Pantry helped to make sure that lots of local families had a Thanksgiving table filled with turkey and all the trimmings, giving away vouchers for 1,100 turkeys over the last few weeks.

That’s about 350 more vouchers than the pantry gave away last year, according to Kathy Kovack, the executive director of the food pantry, which is a nonprofit organization that grew from a Sunday school class at Clemmons United Methodist Church several years ago.

In all, Kovack estimated that the pantry fed about 3,600 people with the voucher program, which allowed people to pick up a turkey from Food Lion. The pantry used to give away the turkeys on site but switched to vouchers last year because it was difficult to store hundreds of turkeys.

“It just grows and grows and grows every year,” Kovack said of the turkey giveaway. “I can remember about four years ago, we gave out about 400 turkeys and it’s at least doubled if not tripled.”

Up until a few weeks ago, the shelves at the pantry, 2585 Old Glory Road, were nearly barren, she said.

But several big food drives filled the shelves back up, with more drives about to begin, including one at West Forsyth High School, Kovack said.

“This is the truest community effort I’ve ever seen. It’s the churches, the schools, the businesses, it’s individuals,” Kovack said. “There are many, many people doing many different things. It’s amazing.”

Clemmons UMC and the preschool recently brought in more than 3,100 pounds of food, with different organizations now bringing in donations of 500 to 600 pounds.

The pantry has undergone several changes over the years, the biggest coming in 2013 when it moved to its bigger location on Old Glory Road after years at Meadowbrook Mall. Clients may now pick their own food from pantry shelves, and that selection includes more produce.

In the height of the summer growing season, the pantry gave away about 8,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits, Kovack said.

“Community gardens have been a big deal this year,” she said.

People interested in volunteering at the pantry are invited to an orientation session, held on the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the pantry.