Merrill Food Pantry Hungering For Your Help!
by Russ Mancl
(Photo above, Sister Anita Wolf, Merrill Food Pantry manager)
The doors to area food pantries across the nation are open to those in need year round. But it's during the holiday season that the shelves begin to run low on food and help is needed to serve the growing needs of the hungry.
I recently visited the Merrill Food Pantry in Merrill, WI, where Sister Anita Wolf, SCSC, has been manager for the past six years. Sister shared statistics from the month of October, which showed requests for food from 137 families. The food pantry served 373 individuals, 149 were children. The log kept by the food pantry showed that those receiving food were unemployed, low income households, disabled, single parent households and numerous other situations.
The numbers will increase over the holiday and winter season.
Members of the National Guard Unit in Merrill collected food December 2 for the Merrill Food Pantry. Holy Cross Sisters and Associates were on hand to help stock the shelves.
Sister Anita was very hopeful that the deer hunting season would bring in venison for the freezers at the pantry. In Merrill, Geiss Meats are providing processing at no charge to the hunters who want to donate deer to the pantry. Many other processors are doing the same in other parts of the country.
There have been donations of frozen turkeys to the pantry by Pat Callahan of Merrill and Phil Ziesmer Photography of Merrill. The day I visited the food pantry, Ace Hardware employees delivered 20 frozen turkeys to the food pantry. This is a yearly donation that they make.
(L-r.) Tim Haight, Sister Anita Wolf, Diane Chambers
It was a Monday morning and the shelves were considerably low on food, a stark contrast from my earlier visit in the year when food was delivered by the Postal Carriers and room was hard to find to place the boxes. During my visit, area grocery stores were delivering milk and eggnog to help immediate needs of visitors to the pantry. Rev. Jeffrey Martinson from Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Merrill was delivering some baskets of food from members of his congregation received over the weekend. A log showed that many other groups and individuals made donations over the past weeks to help out.
Robert Czerwinski, Merrill Food Pantry employee stocks shelves.
Robert Czerwinski works at the pantry. He was busy replenishing the shelves with whatever extra food was available. He said, "It's nice to have a place in Merrill where people can get help." As I left the Food Pantry, there were people coming in for bread which is available in the outer area of the facility on a daily basis during the week. Two more volunteers were starting their shift at the pantry to help those in need.
Sister Anita pointed to a table where outdated items were placed. It seems more and more food that is donated is outdated or in containers that are damaged, which eliminates it from being placed on the shelves.
If you would like to make a difference during the holiday season or anytime during the year to help feed the hungry, give your local food pantry a call and see what particular needs are not being met. Won't you consider helping? Food pantries are hungering for your help.
May We Appreciate and Remember
Today may we appreciate this food and remember those who are hungry.
May we appreciate our family and friends and remember those who are alone.
May we appreciate our health and remember those who are sick.
May we appreciate the freedoms we have and remember those who suffer injustice and tyranny.
Peace on earth.
(L-r.) Scott Hinz, Keith Stoney, Mike Van Lieshout, members of the Lake Alexander Club present food to the Merrill Food Pantry which was collected over 4th of July. The club hopes to make this an annual event. Sister Mary Anthony Menting was on hand to accept the donation.
Left: Sisters and associates begin stocking shelves following the Postal Carriers Annual Food Drive in Merrill, WI . Right: Sister Mary Anthony Menting is astounded at the huge carts filled with food that the public donated. Around 10,000 pounds of food were collected in this particular drive, doubling the figure from one year earlier..
