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Mobile Pantry distributes tons of food
HAYES CENTER, Neb. -- Seventy-eight families and the Hayes Center Senior Citizen Center shared 5,500 pounds of food distributed at the "Mobile Pantry" in Hayes Center Saturday morning.
Mobile Pantry coordinators JoLyn Hare, a board member of the Hitchcock County Pantry, and Lea Childress, manager of Network Expansion at the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, were pleased with the turnout in Hayes Center, and appreciated the volunteer assistance of Hayes Center Public Schools staff and students.
Food items remaining after the distribution were donated to the senior center in Hayes Center.
Shoppers came from these counties for the Hayes Center distribution: Hayes County, 31 families; Red Willow, 20; Hitchcock, 14; Furnas, 6; Dundy, 4; Phelps, 1; Chase, 1; and Seward, 1.
While there were no "chicken paws" or chayote squash at the Hayes Center distribution, as there were at earlier Pantrys, there was frozen spaetzle, accompanied by this recipe:
German Cheese Spaetzle
3-4 cups cooked spaetzle
2-3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 T. butter or olive oil
2 small onions, sliced
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute onion slices in heated butter/oil until tender and lightly browned, about 5-10 minutes.
Butter a casserole dish. Layer half the spaetzle, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat, ending with cheese. Top with sautéed onions. Bake uncovered about 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
The Mobile Pantry program of the Food Bank for the Heartland was created to provide food where there is a high need but limited resources. In 2014, the Food Bank's Mobile Pantry program distributed nearly 3 million pounds of food to approximately 39,800 households in need in Nebraska and western Iowa.
Hare has coordinated Mobile Pantries in Culbertson, Trenton and Stratton, and now Hayes Center. Mobile Pantries in Southwest Nebraska will follow this schedule throughout the remainder of the year:
* Saturday, June 25, McCook/Red Willow County, location to be announced, 10 a.m. until noon, 12,000-15,000 pounds of food to be distributed.
* Saturday, July 23, Hitchcock County, Palisade school gym, 10 a.m. until noon, 8,000 pounds.
* Saturday, Aug. 13, Dundy County, Benkelman, location to be determined, 10 a.m. until noon MT, 6,000 pounds.
* Saturday, Oct. 8, Hitchcock County, Stratton, location to be announced, 10 a.m. until noon, 7,000 pounds.
* Saturday, Nov. 19, McCook/Red Willow County, (tentative date; location to be announced).
* Saturday, Dec. 10, Hitchcock County, Culbertson, location to be announced, 10 a.m. until noon, 8,000 pounds.