Central Food Bank News From Michelle

With the New Year here, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank our amazing community of Central. The food drives at our schools, local businesses and churches, our Central Feeding Central in Memory of Dennis M. Lewis (my daddy!), and our Thanksgiving and Christmas drives have exceeded all expectations any of us at the Central Food Bank could have imagined.
It all began with the schools —Bellingrath Hills Elementary, Central Intermediate, Central Middle School Service Group/4H, Central Private School, and the Central High School fishing team. The students gathered food for weeks. Barrels at times needed to be emptied much sooner than we expected.
I have to apologize to the moms whose children cleaned out their pantries for the food drives, but as one sweet child told her mother “We’re feeding Central, momma!”
The CHS fishing team held a benefit fishing tournament for us. Those dedicated kids fished in the bitter cold, raising can goods, $220 in cash, and packs of fresh fish.
When we started seeing the amount of food coming in, it was overwhelming. There was very little walking room in the food bank. So I placed a call to Mr. Mike Breaux with PODS and told him we needed some extra storage space. He had a POD delivered the next day. Needless to say, the donations kept pouring in and the POD was filled to capacity within a couple of days. So Mr. and Mrs. Leader of AA Mini Storage offered the use of one of their storage lockers. It is filled to capacity as well.
The Central Feeding Central Thanksgiving drive was a huge success. Megan Willis, manager of Winn Dixie had 100 $20 bags of items we use to make up the holiday meals. Every single bag was purchased in a matter of a couple of days! We met our turkey goal and were able to provide complete Thanksgiving dinners to 91 seniors and families in Central.
Central Feeding Central 100 Hams for the Holidays went off without a hitch as well. Megan worked with Winn Dixie/Southeastern Grocers corporate to put together $5 bags of groceries. As of Monday, Dec. 17, over 500 of the $5 bags were purchased for our little food bank.
Journey Home Realty held their Second Annual Senior Drive. They collected items such as socks, caps, and blankets. These items will be given away to our senior clients so they will have something new for Christmas. I would also like to thank Central Antiques owner Paula Hooper, their dealers and their customers for being a drop off and donating items for our seniors. Our senior clients truly were surprised to receive gift bags filled with goodies in addition to Christmas dinner.
We receive support throughout the year from several local churches — Zoar Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, St. Augustine Episcopal Church, Grace Family Church and Blackwater United Methodist Church.
Local businesses have once again signed up to have their logos on our food bank barrels. They include Lewis’ Wrecker Service, Inc., The Rubber House of Baton Rouge, Central Storage, Central Pharmacy, Michael Loolara/State Farm, Central Plumbing Company, Rogers Regional Eye Canter, Confederate Heating and Air, Hunt’s Tire Pros, GM Cable Contractors, Inc.
Thank you The Looking Glass, The Hair Zone, Caliber Flooring and Record Dental who held food drives for us and their customers who participated.
Our volunteers, Kevin Keithly, Nancy Jones and her daughter Daisey, Danny Johnson, John and Sandi Heffner, Cindy Stevens, Michelle Robertson, Suzanne Mirrell, Leslie Shannon, Kim Patton and her children Ariana and Jay, John Knaps, Jessica Thomas, Jeanie Barnett, Peggy Hebert and Linda Creel who work tirelessly every week picking up donations, dating, sorting and stocking the shelves, making home deliveries to shut in’s and tending to our clients. Special thank you to Beth Fussell, Doug Barnett, Rose Prather and Gideon Rossman for joining in to date, sort and stock the shelves. Central Speaks, who runs articles and reminders about what is needed.
And then there is the community support we receive. Monetary donations arriving every month like clockwork. Donations of food filling our barrels and individuals arriving on Thursdays with bags and bags of food. Mr. Nobody, as he has become to be known, wishing to remain anonymous, showing up at the food bank on any given Thursday with his truck and trailer filled with the entire grocery list that I have posted on FB just the day before. Showing up at Winn Dixie and purchasing fifteen hams and leaving enough money to purchase forty more hams, plus one hundred packs of dinner rolls and eight cases of peanut butter.
Words cannot express how grateful I am for the support that is shown to us by our entire community. The generosity and kind hearts that assist us in providing for those in need. We could not do what we do without all of you.
On behalf of everyone at the Central Food Bank, have a blessed and prosperous New Year.