February 1, 2023

No......It wasn't the Macy's Day Parade this past Saturday on the campus of Calvary Episcopal Church. Arriving a bit after 6 a.m.,  the cars were backed up to Old Airport Road and others were circling the lot.  Thanks to  "Early Bird Dan, number distributor," our neighbors received their numbers to shop, parked their cars, and enjoyed the sunrise.  We welcomed 143 families representing 501 individuals. 15 new families came and received food for the first time with us. Fred reported that for the month of January 456 different households visited the pantry representing 1,563 individuals. 

February is Pantry-ary month.  We would like to extend an invitation to tour our 5,000 square-foot facility and The Lord's Acre of Fletcher,  our Garden, so you can see how donations are making life better for our neighbors with food insecurity. On Tuesday, February 7th and 21st at 9:00 a.m.,  we have a MANNA delivery.  Every Friday at 9:00, volunteers stock the shelves. On Saturdays from  8-11,  food is distributed through the MANNA neighbor shopping model. We would be honored to have you as a guest.  Please email me with any questions or if you have a group that would like to come at a different time to tour the facility.  

Panera Bread began donating bread and rolls this week.  City Bakery donated loaves of bread. Other donated items were from Bright Farms-lettuce, Ingles and Bimbos-bread, Wal-Mart-misc items, Flavor-First peppers and tomatoes, and MilCo-milk.  Friday, our volunteers stocked the shelves with purchased items from MANNA and Sav-Mor (canned goods, milk,  and eggs). We purchased potatoes, onions, zucchini, and carrots from JandJ Tomato Co.

On behalf of the executive committee, thank you to our volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity.