A countywide food drive that recently started will help keep shelves stocked at Gilmer Community Food Pantry.
The local food pantry has seen an upswing in families coming to pick up food following lower than usual numbers much of the past two years amid the pandemic.
The last two Wednesdays have seen 80-90 families picking up food, said Allen Triebel, pantry volunteer and the facility’s former director.
“We’ve finally come out of our low COVID numbers. Our low about a year ago was 39 (families),” he added.
“We got 20 new families in two weeks. That’s a lot.”
The increased activity and shortages at places where the pantry buys food are leaving some shelves bare or close to it, Triebel noted. Most of the food distributed here comes from food banks in Atlanta and Chattanooga.
“They have no variety and very little inventory,” said Triebel. “We can only buy from Atlanta once a month, (and) the food isn’t the same on the first of the month as it is at the middle or end of the month.”
Buying from a Food Lion grocery warehouse that previously provided goods to hundreds of organizations like Gilmer’s food pantry hasn’t been possible since the pandemic started, Triebel noted. That’s also factoring into the shortfall, he said.
“We used to buy grits, flour, fruit cups, ketchup, mustard and (other) things from there that aren’t sold by (the two food banks),” he added.
The food drive is being coordinated mostly by local real estate offices. “We need help from the community in the form of food donations,” Triebel said.
Food donations should be in the form of nonperishable canned, jarred or boxed food items, Triebel said. Among the most needed items are all types of canned vegetables (particularly canned corn, carrots and beans), dry goods (including dry noodles, mac and cheese and oatmeal) and other canned foods like soup, canned tuna and chicken.
The food drive will last through Monday, Aug. 22.
Dropoff locations
﹣ Re/Max Town & Country, 96 Craig Street
﹣ Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, 585 Highland Crossing
﹣ Better Homes and Gardens Metro Brokers, 29 Highland Drive, Suite 115
﹣ Century 21, 56 Depot Street
﹣ Ansley Real Estate, 5 Depot Street
﹣ Woodland Realty, 62 Mountain View Drive, Suite 1
﹣ Coldwell Banker High Country, 329 River Street
﹣ Wilson-Hamilton Real Estate Law, 589 Highland Crossing
﹣ Brett Jones, Attorney at Law, 146 River Street
Food donations can also be dropped off at the food pantry’s physical location at 5273 Highway 52 East, Triebel confirmed.