Pantry food drive slated this weekend

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Boy Scouts will deliver grocery bags to McCook homes' front porches Friday, and, on Saturday, retrieve the bags in which residents have placed their donations to the McCook Pantry.

This is the Pantry's annual big food drive. And the need to fill the Pantry's shelves grows each year.

The number of people using the Pantry has nearly doubled since 2005 when the Pantry served 5.500 people. It served 10,625 people in 2012. So far this year, the Pantry has averaged 918 people each month. If that trend continues, the total for the year could be 11,017 people -- doubling 2005's figure.

The Pantry serves every community within the seven counties of Southwest Nebraska, as well as transients traveling through the area.

Food items that the Pantry likes to have on hand to offer its customers are:

Canned fruits and vegetables, soups and stews; peanut butter, pork and beans, canned meats, dry pasta, rice, beans, cereal, flour, sugar, crackers, canned and dry milk, boxed macaroni and cheese, eggs, margarine and bread.

Monetary donations made to the Pantry allow volunteers to go shopping at McCook and Wauneta grocery stores and at the Mid-Nebraska Food Bank of Kearney

Residents who want to donate, but miss the Scouts, can bring their donations to the Pantry Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The Pantry is in the Canterbury House of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, in the 500 block of West First in McCook; use the north door. St. Alban's is among the Pantry's supporters, providing space and utilities at no cost.