In December, the Loudon Food Pantry gave out enough food to 245 individuals for them to prepare 8,524 meals. Of these people, 111 were age 60 and older (45%), 64 were age 18 or under (26%), and 70 were between those ages (29%). Our meal numbers are lower than in November because the Capital Region Food Program provides about 95 percent of the holiday baskets given out, which is done with vouchers.

Gift of Lights at NH Motor Speedway: Thanks to the generosity of the donors and everyone involved we received 2,342.90 pounds of food from the Gift of Lights. This will help those we serve to create over 1,952 meals. Excellent job!

Foods we always seem to need: There are some foods that leave the pantry as soon as they come in. You may be surprised to find that it’s mostly the kids and elderly that love these foods. Here comes the list … canned asparagus, canned beets, canned spinach and canned pumpkin. Who knew, right? So, if you can pick up an extra can when you’re shopping and toss it our way, we would be thankful.

Running a food pantry can be very labor intensive (not to mention the paperwork). Doing this work just wouldn’t be as enjoyable as it is without my core group of volunteers. For our guests, they help them laugh so they can forget their problems for a while. They are always willing to help anyway they can so we can all make it through the day. Personally, for me they have become people I can depend on and call friends. Big cheers and many thanks to Bill, Glenda, Jon, Sandy, Deb E., Deb D., June, Breda, Brenda, Elaine, and Eric. 

Do you need food? Call me at (603) 724-9731 to see if you qualify. The process is simple and if you have all your paperwork, you’ll receive food the same day as your appointment!

~ Sue Houck