Good Shepherd Lutheran Church :: Confirmation Visits Food Pantry (10/05)
Every single year, forty million people die from hunger. Think about that: that’s one person dying every 3.5 seconds. Every three seconds! To put that into perspective, that means that 17 people die every minute, 1020 each hour, and over 24,000 each day. The worst earthquake in modern history killed 242,000 people in China in 1976. Hunger kills that many every 12 days. But understand this: hunger isn’t only a problem in far-off lands like Africa. It exists in our very own town.

That’s where the Monroe Food Pantry comes in. Thanks to generous donations of time and food, people in Monroe have somewhere to go for help. The pantry goes through a sort-of life cycle of: stocking up, sorting and shelving, and then, after the food is given out, the process repeats. This life cycle repeats once a month. Volunteers are needed to help stock the shelves and categorize the foods. If you want to donate food to the pantry, you can bring it right to the pantry or leave it at a drop-off bin at Big Y. Your donation helps right here in our very own town.

Just recently, the confirmation students at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church took a visit to the pantry to help with sorting. They even brought a few donations of their own! The kids arrived at 9:15 AM. They had time to put together “paper-goods bags”, bags for homebound seniors in Monroe, and learn about how the pantry operates. The students quickly realized that the pantry was… well, cramped. Even though the pantry shares the building with the fire marshal, every room was filled with food. The most amazing part was: all that food was wiped clean every month by hungry people in our very own town. The pantry serves approximately 70-80 households throughout the year. Everyone who went to the pantry agreed it was really cool. For more on the confirmation trip to the food pantry, click here.

To sum it all up, there’s more than one way to help the cause and I’m sure at least one will fit your lifestyle. You can donate food or volunteer at our local pantry. For those who have less time, a simple trip to the Hunger Site will donate 1.1 cups of food at no cost to you! Through sponsored links, the page allows you to donate food without actually paying even a penny. In the end, you know you have extra time. You know you don’t need the 2 extra bags of potatoes you got with buy one get one free ad yesterday at the store. Well, instead of letting it rot away in the back of your cabinet, give it to people who need it. Just spending a bit of extra time volunteering in the food pantry instead of reading the latest Harry Potter novel is rewarding and truly helpful. So, you have the power, now make a difference!

More Information...