Local community members work together to collect food donations

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Children go to bed hungry. In some families, there’s just not enough to go around.

And, it happens in our own neighborhoods.

The need for assistance is almost overwhelming. Food pantries empty almost as soon as volunteers fill them.

“Can you imagine being 7 years old and going to bed hungry can you imagine a 13 year old and going to bed hungry and waiting to go to school that morning for breakfast and lunch and possibly not be having dinner,” said Rhonda Sanders.

Rhonda Sanders has seen families like this. She says hunger is becoming a reality for families in Mississippi.

That’s because Mississippi still leads the nation in poverty. The US Census puts more than 20% of the people who live here below the poverty line.

But there are people in the community WHO want to make sure that food is the last thing  families worry about.

Sanders says, even though the pantry is there, the food may not be.

“We service all 16 of them and people are dropping off food at them and every time that I go twice a week its empty,” said Sanders.

“Because Oktibbeha has such a large problem with food insecurity pretty much whenever we fill the pantry their cleaned out within a hour or two,” said Van Halsema.

When it comes to food pantries such as this one you can grab what you need or stock or stock it for someone that may be in need.

When Organizers like Cate Van Halsema with Starkville Strong see that the food is low, they restock the pantry with the food they have collected from community members.

“Our volunteers from Starkville strong we stock the pantries at least three times a day and we also encourage our community members to stop and drop some stuff off whenever they drive by and see that its low,” said Van Halsema.

A daily mission to keep families fed in the Golden Triangle.

List of pantries in Lowndes County:

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the back parking lot at 3rd Avenue South and 4th Street South
2) Wesley United Methodist Church
511 Airline Road
3) Taylor Made Cake 3451 New Hope Road
4) Hitch Lot Farmers Market & Munson & Brothers at the corner of 2nd Avenue North & 3rd Street North
5) Sims Scott Park at the pavilion on 18th Street North & 9th Avenue North
6) Good Shepherd Church a321 Forest Blvd
7) Crawford at Crawford City Hall,
365 Main Street
8) Artesia at Artesia Community Center
46 Front Street
9)  Baptist Student Union 1321 College Street across from MUW Campus
10) By Canaan Baptist Church and the Sheriff’s Office at the intersection of Airline Road & Bell Avenue
11)Caledonia Methodist Church
811 Main Street behind the church
12) Caledonia Community Clinic
171 South Street
13) Anderson Grove Community Center 850 Anderson Grove Rd, Caledonia
14)  Steens Community Center