Food Bank Needs Donations

WAITSBURG - As cold weather sets in, more fami- lies struggle to make ends meet and more families are turning up needing extra food at the Waitsburg Resource Center.

Pastor Bret Moser of the Waitsburg Presbyterian Church said the center is now helping 10 more fami- lies than it did at this time in 2011. Bethany Moser, the chairwoman of the board for the center, said as of Septem- ber, the center is providing food and household necessities to 65 families in the Waitsburg area, or a total of 157 people.

"When it starts to get cold, more people tend to come in," Bethany Moser said.

The reserves are running a bit low because no food drives had been done yet this year, she said. The food bank needs lots of food soon because it is currently giving out 1,500 to 1,700 pounds of food each month.

"We've got to get some more food on our shelves," she said.

Pastor Mike Ferrians of the Waitsburg Christian Church said he believes the influx is coming a little bit earlier this year.

"We're low (on food) because the need is high," he said.

There's no specific reason there are more people in need in our community, Ferrians said. But, the center's vol- unteers are certainly helping new "neighbors."

The Leos Club at Waits- burg High School is planning a community-wide food drive on Nov. 8. And the more they collect, the better, because the Blue Mountain Action Council matches donations. The items most needed right now include volunteer time, monetary donations as well as toilet paper, peanut butter, hot dogs, spaghetti sauce, canned soups, chili and ravi- oli, coffee, tea, pudding and baking supplies like sugar, flour and salt.

The Blue Mountain Ac- tion Council provides frozen chicken, juice, canned fruits and vegetables, cereal and other dried goods.

The center is located on Preston Avenue in the Amer- icanWest bank building. It is open Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. It serves those in the Waitsburg and Prescott school district boundar- ies, not just Waitsburg city limits.