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Helping out this holiday season: Local food pantries seeking donations of food, toys
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
With Christmas quickly approaching, plans for the perfect holiday feast are underway in many Collin County households.
However, a number of county residents are forced to choose between putting food on the table or purchasing toys for their children. Even worse, some families don't have the money for either.
To help ensure everyone has a happy holiday, food pantries throughout the county are gearing up in anticipation of serving thousands of people in the next few weeks. However, pantry employees say they will not be able to provide their services without the help of the public.
In addition to food, White said children younger than the age of 11 will receive a new, unwrapped toy.
God's Food Pantry's holiday distribution is Dec. 22, and so far the pantry is well short of the amount of goods it needs, White said.
“We have 244 families signed up, and out of those we have 120 families with kids,” he said. “Right now I only have enough toys for about 10 families.”
White said the pantry is accepting toy donations as well as donations of canned goods and dried goods. While no donations will be turned away, he said the majority of the donated items need to be received by Dec. 15 to allow pantry staff to prepare for the distribution. The pantry also accepts cash donations, which will be used to purchase food or toys, White said.
In west Plano, Seven Loaves is also in need of food donations this holiday season, founder Sharon Hasley said.
“It is absolutely a struggle every holiday,” she said. “Our cupboards are pretty bare this time of year because we see such as increase in families in November and December.”
Unlike God's Food Pantry, which has a one-day holiday distribution, Seven Loaves sees each of its clients once a month and distributes its holiday meals at that time.
“We are probably going to serve 1,000 families before Christmas is all said and done, so that means we will serve about 4,000 people,” Hasley said. “We are also giving out toys, because if a family doesn't have money for food they also don't have money for gifts.”
At Seven Loaves, younger children will receive small stuffed animals and older children will receive $10 gift cards.
The pantry is accepting donations of food and toys, Hasley said, adding that items such as protein, canned fruits, peanut butter and diapers for larger children are always in need. People may also donate money to the pantry online, said Hasley, who also noted that for $25 the pantry can feed a family for one week since food can be purchased at a discounted rate through the North Texas Food Bank.
The Community Food Pantry of McKinney does not have anything special planned for Christmas, but will remain open six days a week throughout the holiday season, said volunteer pantry director Carol Bodwell.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure no one goes to bed hungry over the holidays,” Bodwell said.
Bodwell said the pantry is accepting donations, but doesn't necessarily need the items that make up a Christmas dinner.
“Most people think of turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce, but what we need most is milk for our children,” she said. “Right now we are having to buy milk every week. We need powdered milk in sizes up to eight quarts, as well as canned evaporated milk since many people we serve don't have refrigerators.”
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