Adam Prudhomme
Editor
For some students, school’s summer break means not having to go to class for a few months.
For others, it means a suspension of the school’s nutrition programs, a huge help for families on a tight budget.
That leads to added pressure on the local food bank, which comes at a time when their resources are already stretched thin.
Abby Mills, Napanee Salvation Army’s director of community ministries, says any help is welcomed as they prepare for their leanest time of the year.
“Our food bank is really busy right now with kids home from school, families are going through more food than ever,” said Mills. “What we’re finding is our shelves are really quite empty. When I shop for supplies before each food bank day, I’m picking up from most of the categories that we give food out from. Our staples are just at the very bottom of our supply. We need some help to make sure that the hungry people in our community stay fed.”
Mills says donations of soup, pasta, pasta sauce and granola bars are particularly appreciated as they do their best to restock their shelves.
“Everything is just at a bare minimum,” said Mills.
Mills is shopping strategically in an effort to make every dollar go further.
“We shop very carefully to do as much as we possibly can with the funds that we are given,” said Mills. “Sometimes even at that there are things where we have to make the decision where we choose not to put something in because it doesn’t give us enough food value compared to the cost.”
Donations can be made online at https://qrgo.page.link/Z2W8v or in person at 81 Dairy Ave. All money and food donated locally stays local.
Speaking of school, the Napanee Salvation Army is also gearing up for its annual backpack campaign.
Registration for the program was completed during the last month of school and the plan is to distribute new backpacks full of school supplies in early August.
“We have the backpacks that we need, what we need are more school supplies if people would like to donate pens, pencils, calculators, lunch bags, things like that it would be wonderful,” said Mills.