Food bank gathers gifts for local kids

The West Shore Food Bank is preparing

to make the holiday season a little more cheerful for children in

need.

Through its annual Toys for Kids

program, the food bank is gathering gifts for more than 150 local

children. With the help of the schools, local groups and word of

mouth, the list of those in need continues to grow, food bank

director Leslie Knuth said. Children can be added to the list by

contacting the food bank with their names, ages, gender, addresses

and three gift ideas. In addition to toys, many children are

requesting clothes and warm winter wear.

“We give them toys because it’s

Christmas, but we’re also doing other things that they need,” Knuth

said.

Residents can donate to help fulfill

these needs. All donated items must be new.

Along with the collecting and

distributing the gifts this year, the food pantry is hosting its

first Christmas party on Sunday, Dec. 19, in the Lakeside

Elementary School gym. The event, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., will

include cookie decorating, crafts, a toy walk (similar to a cake

walk) and Santa Claus. Donations are also welcome to help with the

event.

“Please come and join us,” Knuth

said.

FOOD BANK

The number of children in need this

holiday season is also reflected in the increased demands at the

food bank itself on a regular basis. The need at the food bank has

climbed 40 percent from before the recession. It’s already given

out 60,000 pounds of food as of Nov. 1, much more than the usual

35,000 to 40,000 pounds.

On average, the food bank is seeing 30

to 35 families a week, but has also been receiving five to seven

new clients a month. Knuth said she’s seen an uptick in the number

of young working families it serves.

“What’s happening is that even if you

have a young couple with children and both are working, it’s not

enough,” she said. “It’s not cheap to live here. It’s still hard to

make it.”

Needs at the food bank often include

spaghetti sauce and grape jelly.

“Spaghetti is something a lot of people

can cook and it lasts for two meals,” she said.

At the beginning of the week, the food

bank handed out 100 Thanksgiving baskets that each included a

turkey and complete meal.

Baskets will also be distributed at

Christmas time, with hams instead of turkeys. One of the biggest

needs the food bank has right now is for the meat for the Christmas

baskets. Hams can be purchased and donated at Blacktail Grocery in

Lakeside.

DONATE

Donations, both for Toys for Kids and

the food bank, can be mailed to PO Box 192 in Lakeside or dropped

off at the food bank, located on U.S. Highway 93 South in

Lakeside.