Whitley County Consolidated Schools donates more than 60 Thanksgiving family dinners to local food pantries
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Volunteers from the Columbia City High School student council and St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church unload donated turkey and Thanksgiving dinners Monday morning – bring smiles to the faces of volunteers and those waiting to receive the donated items.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
We’ve all heard how much families are hurting this year, how many people are in need. Yet, the need is not so apparent until you’re standing at the door of a local food pantry and you can see those waiting in line inside. Their faces drawn, the stress they are under is apparent.
Early Monday morning, a grey drizzle outside, men, women and children nearly filled the interior of the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church in Columbia City.
There’s not much food these days and many people in need of it. Bare shelves at home and little money, the food pantry is a last resort for some – and some wait until they simply cannot wait any longer, figuring there are those more in need.
Yet, it was though the bleakness had parted a bit Monday morning when two vehicles arrived at the food pantry bearing gifts of holiday meals – complete with turkeys, potatoes, gravy, yams, bread, butter, green beans, dressing, cranberry sauce, pie and apple juice.
A group of Columbia City High School student council members, under the guidance of their teacher, Kristin Rentschler, opened the rear door of the vehicles to reveal these splendid gifts – and volunteers appeared briskly to whisk them inside and immediately begin doling them out to waiting families just inside the door.
“This is the most awesome thing,” said Margie Hollenbaugh, a St. Vincent de Paul volunteer, as she hoisted an armload of frozen turkeys from the back of a mini van.
“We were really sparse this past month,” another volunteer said. “But people are really giving and it is really helping.”
Monday’s gifts were about half of what students and staff of the Whitley County Consolidated School corporation have planned this week – they delivered 32 family dinners to St. Vincent de Paul on Monday and will deliver between 30-35 family dinners to Grace Lutheran Church Food Pantry today. The dinners were made possible via food and financial donations collected by the students and staff in recent weeks.
“Last year, as a corporation, we collected 60 dinners,” Rentschler said. With the weakened economy and more families in need, Rentschler and others were not sure they’d be able to meet that goal – but felt that now, more than ever, they needed to try.
“We wanted to make a goal to collect something similar even though the times are tough, but especially because of the tough times,” she added.
Monday’s gifts were made possible by the efforts of Columbia City High School, Northern Heights Elementary School and Mary Raber Elementary School. Today’s gifts will be from Indian Springs Middle School and Coesse.
“We really enjoy doing this,” Rentschler said, standing alongside three student council members who accompanied her to the food pantry to make the donation. “We celebrate our blessings at Thanksgiving and it is nice to be able to provide for others who may not have that.”
“It feels good helping people,” said student council member Mollie Coy. “The people were so excited.”
In all, Rentschler said that at least 25 classes actively participate in the collection drive each year. She described the efforts of teacher Amy Shearer as “amazing work” in what she is able to do for the drive each year.
“Food pantries have just been so empty,” said Rentschler. “They have to turn people away all the time – there’s definitely a big need.”