POCKETS OF NEED

Local Scouts help keep Food Pantry shelves stocked.

By: Joseph Harvie
   After being almost bare for several months, the township-run Food Pantry’s shelves are now stocked thanks to the food drive completed by local Cub and Boy Scouts last week.
   On Nov. 5, Boy Scout Troops 10, 90 and 888 and Cub Scout Packs 98, 100, 107 and 108 handed out 10,000 empty bags to township residents. On Saturday, the Scouts collected some of those bags, which had been filled with food donated by residents.
   Troop 888 Scoutmaster Frank Gramieri said the Scouts collected about 20 percent of the bags they had distributed, which he said wasn’t as great as he had hoped for, but was still 5 percent better than the previous year’s collection.
   Still, LouAnne Wolf, township social services director, said the Scouts collected so much food that she wasn’t sure if it would all fit in the pantry.
   "It was amazing," Ms. Wolf said Monday. "We got so much food we were in a panic yesterday. Not only did some of the fathers come back to volunteer on Sunday to help sort the food and get it out of the gym, two guys from Public Works got called in for overtime and came to help us."
   Ms. Wolf said the whole gym floor at the Community Center was filled with bags of food, and it took two days to sort it and get it into barrels and into the Food Pantry, which is located in a trailer in Woodlot Park.
   Despite the amount of donations, Ms. Wolf said the pantry could use gift cards to local supermarkets to help its patrons purchase turkeys for holiday meals.
   Ms. Wolf said there is no room in the pantry freezers for the turkeys. She said the freezers are filled with more than 200 loaves of bread made by the St. Cecilia’s Youth Group. The bread will be distributed to families for holiday meals.
   The pantry is also in need of money for the Human Intervention Trust Fund. The trust fund is used to help families who need help paying utility bills such as heat and electricity. The fund can help a family only once a year.
   Ms. Wolf said residents can send checks made out to the South Brunswick Human Intervention Trust Fund to: P.O. Box 190, Monmouth Junction, N.J., 08852. Mark the envelope to the attention of LouAnne Wolf or Social Services.
   Residents who still have the empty bags or just want to donate food to the pantry can fill them and bring them to the Food Pantry during business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
   Ms. Wolf also said there is still time to sign up to adopt a needy township family for the holiday program. Residents and businesses who adopt a family provide them with presents and food for the winter holidays.
   Anyone interested in volunteering at the pantry or taking part in the holiday program can contact Ms. Wolf at (732) 329-4000, ext. 7674.