The Community Food Pantry has been working for our community for at least 25 years providing food for needy people and families several days each week. Some of the food is supplied by the US Government through USDA and FEMA, and some is provided by the generous donations of community members. On Saturday, May 9, the USPS Letter Carriers will collect donations from you at your mailbox. This year, in addition to the routes the Garberville Post Office does, the Post Offices of Weott, Myers Flat, and Miranda will have barrels in the post offices to collect foods. We are very grateful for this donation so that we can provide more than 6-8 items when people come in for a bag of food. All types of non-perishable foods are welcome.

We have begun certifying people who receive food -- as required by our Food Bank -- so people will need to bring in identification for each member of the household to be sure we are complying with the Federal regulations that accompany the food we receive. Most Pantries have been doing this paperwork -- so we are catching up with practices used in other parts of the county. Thank you for your patience as we get our regular clients registered.

The Food for People (Food Bank for Humboldt County), of which our Pantry is a part, is interested in helping get more fresh produce into the Pantry to help needy families. They have two programs that might be helpful -- Plant a Row and Gleaners. With the Plant a Row program, gardeners plant extra in their gardens to provide produce to the Pantry. With the Gleaners program, individuals who have a tree that needs help picking or a crop that is overproducing, can call and volunteers will pick the produce and deliver it to the Pantry for distribution. If you would be interested in any aspect of this, call Patti Rose at 923-2477 for more information.

The Donate Don’t Dump program should start on the second Tuesday of May ... watch for more information next week as we learn whether it will be on the same schedule as it has been before. This program brings a large truck load of produce up from the Sacramento Valley once a month to Garberville and Redway.

Thanks to all of you who have been donating regularly to the Pantry -- Curves, the Catholic Church, and the individual who has been bringing a couple of cases to complement the commodities foods (chicken soup one month and jams this month) -- each of you are much loved and appreciated by our needy community members.

If you are interested in volunteering or have suggestions, contact Patti Rose at 923-2477.