Food Bank Has Busiest Year Ever in 2009!

January 27, 2010

Food Bank Has Busiest Year Ever in 2009!

2009 was a very busy year at the Thurmont Food Bank and I’d like to thank everyone who helped make it possible to feed so many people in our community. There were 404 households registered at the Food Bank and each family can receive food twice a month. All together the Thurmont Food Bank gave out food to these families 2,514 times. If you include Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas food, we served these households 2943 times. This takes a lot of time and many, many contributions from the community. Over $60,000 worth of food was donated to the Food Bank in 2009 and this was supplemented by generous financial contributions that made it made it possible to purchase food and basic hygiene supplies for so many households. We estimate that our volunteers worked approximately 1737 hours, but I think this number is actually much higher! Volunteers collect food from area stores and organizations. They also organize, shelve and distribute food as well as keeping up the paperwork and helping to raise funds. It’s amazing how much work goes on behind the scenes to provide each bag of groceries.

People often ask who comes to the Food Bank. Of the 404 households registered to receive food most were from Thurmont with some from Sabillasville, Rocky Ridge, Lewistown, Creagerstown and Graceham. Some families visited once and some came each month. Sometimes people come only once or twice when they were desperate but then we have several elderly, chronically ill, and/or disabled people who rely on the food bank on a regular basis. There are also quite a few families with unemployed or under-employed breadwinners who ask for food until they can get back on their feet. If you know anyone who needs help providing food for their household please let them know they can come to the Thurmont Food Bank located in St. John’s Lutheran Church (next to the Fire Station)on Tuesday from 6 p.m.- 7:30p.m. or Friday from 3:30p.m. to 5:00p.m. Recipients must bring a valid i.d. showing they live in one of the areas listed above.

The Thurmont Food Bank is run by the Thurmont Ministerium but it’s definitely a project that requires the help of the whole community and we appreciate all the support we receive. Special thanks go out to St. John’s Lutheran Church that allows us to house the food bank in their social hall; to the Jermae community that does a food drive every week; to the Town Hall employees who provide a collection spot for non-perishable food; to the schools and organizations who do food drives; to our local stores, especially Food Lion and Weis who help us purchase food at reasonable prices; to all the churches that collect food and to all the volunteers, organizations, and members of the community who help out in any way.

Food Bank Has Busiest Year Ever in 2009!

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