Pocono News Section

Remember Food Pantries During & After the Holiday

Remember Food Pantries During & After the Holiday - Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 8:05PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007 @08:05pm EST
STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY - Mari Jo Marshall helps at the pantry because she knows what it's like to tell your children there's no money for food.

"You just sit there and cry. I stayed up many nights crying because I didn't know which way to go," she said.

Mari Jo is a single mom with five kids. Before she discovered the Food for Friends pantry on Storm Street she struggled to buy groceries.

She said, "This is a blessing. These people are a blessing."

The Follow Me Foundation runs the pantry. About 3,000 families use the services there and the need gets bigger all the time.

Organizers say around Thanksgiving donations always pour in but right after the holiday most people forget about them. They ask that you try to remember them with donations during and after the holidays.

Susan Reynolds Co-Founder of the foundation said, "Hunger doesn't take a holiday."

The thing the pantry needs more than anything else is space. All of the workers and the food are crammed into 440 square feet.

"We're literally outside in the elements when we're trying to help these people. It's very cold and very difficult and in the summer it's sweltering," said Reynolds.

The foundation wants to buy a bigger space but it's tough because the pantry runs on donations. "So we're trying to do this on a very limited budget, like zero, "said Reynolds.

With dedicated volunteers and a strong faith in God the people who run the pantry believe they will expand and be able to help the community more every year.

If you would like to donate to Food for Friends you can send a check or money order to:

Follow Me Foundation
50 Storm Street
Stroudsburg PA 18360

or call
570-421-1077