NEWS
Columbia County Cares Food Pantry helping to feed the hungry
Melissa Tune
News 12 at 11 o'clock, November 18, 2009
AUGUSTA,Ga.-- On Thanksgiving Day, millions of Americans will be sitting around their tables to eat dinner and give thanks for the food they have. But there are some that live everyday wondering when their next meal will be.
Hunger, you may think, only affects a third world country but it is a big problem right here in America. One in seven American households struggled to put enough food on the table in 2008. That's the highest number ever.
Unemployment and a poor economy is partially to blame for scarcity of food in some homes, but the Columbia County Cares Food Pantry is there to help those in need get back on their feet.
"We do the best we can to make sure we keep families happy and those that need have something in their refrigerator," says Jose Ostoleza, a volunteer.
This time of the year, near the holidays is the busy season for the food bank, as they prepare bags for pick up by families or individuals. The food pantry is a lifeline for those trying to scrape together a meal. The number of Americans who lack access to adequate food last year was 49 million. Last year 4.8 million people used food pantries and 625,000 used soup kitchens.
Bernard Thomas says he has benefited.
It's very important and I would say please help by donating if you can,"says Thomas.
"We want to feed people," says Lou Reda, Director of the Columbia County Cares Food Pantry."That's what we're all about."
Reda is in charge of the pantry. He and his wife have been feeding the community for years.
"There are a lot of people that just don't have the things that we have, the food that we have and they need help,"he adds.
Being the week before Thanksgiving, the crew is extremely busy.
"This week we're probably going to feed about 160 families,' says Reda. "This is the time of year when everyone has so much and some of these people have so little."
The pantry works with about 30-35 churches and community groups that donate money and food. But Reda says the best feeling of all is seeing someone who used the food pantry before get back on their feet and come back to help out with food donations themselves and their time.
For more information go to: http://www.columbiacountyga.gov/index.aspx?page=2690.
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