As the weather starts to get cold, local food pantries are preparing for the upcoming holidays, which is a busy time of year for giving.
While local food pantries have reported being fairly well-stocked for now, no doubt the supplies will shrink after Thanksgiving passes and Christmas approaches.
Jami Fowler, a social service worker with the Bradford Salvation Army, said the pantry is stocked right now, but said the organization is “always welcoming of donations.”
In addition to providing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner food baskets, the Salvation Army “can always use things like peanut butter because with school being out during those breaks, we need to make sure families have food for the kids to be provided at the house because they’re not getting the school lunches.”
“We usually get a lot of our donations from local churches during the holidays,” said Fowler, talking about the support the organization receives.
“Bradford always seems to step up,” Fowler said. “We get a lot of people who will go out and purchase hundreds of dollars worth of food out of their own pockets and donate it to us. There’s not a day of the week that somebody doesn’t walk in here with something to donate whether it be food or clothes. We have wonderful volunteers and we’re always welcoming volunteers, especially with the kettle season coming up.”
Meanwhile, at Destinations Bradford, executive director Becky Plummer said, “At the moment we are amply stocked.” She explained the organization’s food bank was able “to get some good deals” from the Second Harvest Food Bank, and they “received some donations through a couple of area food drives and are prepared for November.”
Plummer has faith that residents will continue to support the food bank through Christmas just as they have through Thanksgiving.
“We have not crunched the numbers for December as of yet, but are convinced that being a part of the Bradford community, we will be able to help play a part in food distribution,” said Plummer.
Plummer said the number served by the food bank has “steadily” risen over the past year, and it “routinely distributed 750 to 1,000 pounds of food monthly with the expectations to be over 1,000 pounds in each of the next months. During the holiday season, people often scrimp on food bills in order to provide memorable holidays for their families. Numbers will rise, it is inevitable.”
Making sure all Bradfordians have a happy holiday is truly a community effort.
“With help from the community, the United Way and other organizations we all be able to rise to the occasion and relieve some of the stresses for these families and ultimately play a part in providing a more joyous holiday,” said Plummer.
Plummer said she makes sure she has items on hand which are complementary — such as boxes of spaghetti and jars of meat sauce — when she shops to fill up the pantry. She explained that a typical food package from Destinations includes three dinners, two lunches and a snack.
Destinations has also started distributing homeless packs, which are designed for someone who does not have a kitchen to cook in. These can include items such as non-condensed soups with pop-top lids, crackers, vacuum-packed meats, granola bars and plasticware.
Though the Destination’s food pantry is pretty well stocked for Thanksgiving, its Clothing Closet is low on men’s and children’s items.
Other food-providing organizations in Bradford include the YWCA Bradford and Friendship Table.
The YWCA has a food pantry and accepts donations of non-perishables that can be distributed to those in need, as well as volunteers to work at the food pantry.
The Friendship Table, which serves warm meals to residents every weekday afternoon, reported in 2012 that the organization usually tries to hold special events for holidays such as and Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas gathering.
