DANVILLE — For 18 years, people have been generous, sharing food and money to keep the Danville Area Food Pantry open.
Residents have another chance to help at the Frostbite Marathon from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the three County Markets in Danville and Tilton.
A Pepsi trailer will be set up at County Market in Towne Centre to accept donations of non-perishable food or County Market gift certificates on those two days. Also, donations will be collected inside the stores at the Village Mall and in Tilton. Carts will be set up at the front of the stores, and eligible food items will be marked with red tags on the shelves.
County Market also will have bags of food available for $5, which can be donated to the pantry. The bags contain food items that the pantry uses every day.
Last year, the community’s contributions helped provide more than 310,000 meals, said chairman Chuck Brooks.
However, it’s a balancing act every year, as the need threatens to outpace the contributions.
“The need for food in our community continues to increase,” Brooks said.
Just last month, the pantry served more than 800 people, with 70 of those being first-time users.
“We continue to see an increase in the number of seniors using the pantry, as well as more and more people becoming unemployed or underemployed," he said.
“Because of the increased need at the food pantry, we are within a few weeks of closing our doors. This food drive will help restock the pantry.”
Brooks said there’s more need for food this time of year, and the pantry runs out of money about this time, too. The Frostbite Marathon helps the pantry over that hump.
He said he’s always amazed at the number of new faces he sees every month.
“I thought we’d keep seeing the same people,” he said, “but there are 50-80 new families who have never been here before.”
He also appreciates people’s generosity, saying he expects to fill the Pepsi delivery truck with donations.
Sometimes, he’ll see a person heading his way with a small sack of groceries. But, then the person keeps the sack for himself and donates a cart full of food, saying that the pantry helped him in the past.
All of the donations stay in the Vermilion County and western Indiana area, he said.
Brooks said County Market has always been a great partner with the pantry, and the pantry buys all of its food there.
All three County Markets have the shelves marked with red tags to indicate which items are used at the pantry every day. The stores alert the pantry to sales and they also mark down items that used on a regular basis, Brooks said, “so we’re able to help as many people as possible. I’m happy with what they do.”
The pantry is the oldest emergency food pantry in Vermilion County, serving for more than 34 years.
FYI
For more information on how to help, call Chuck Brooks at 442-4031.
The food pantry is open from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Danville Township building on Walnut Street.
