Local company has food bank during their annual event
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Food is a huge need in the area and people in the community make it their goal to make sure their neighbors in the Golden triangle don’t go hungry.
Taking or leaving.
That is what people in the community are doing with canned goods at area food banks.
Rex Buffington, Co-director of the Casserole kitchen, says that his organization offers a small food pantry outside of the kitchen, and people are welcome to get what they need or add to the pantry at any time.
“Those food pantries help a lot too because they’re there all the time and people and go by and take what they need and people can go by and bring food and leave it there they don’t need what someone else needs,” said Buffington.
Buffington says that no matter what the season, there are always people that need their help.
“People are hungry all year round and so they come all year round and it’s not very different in terms of seasons really. steadily throughout the year we see about 50 people for each meal and it’s not always the same people but it’s about that number,” said Buffington.
Buffington says that during the holidays he sees more people donating, but during the spring and summer donations are slower coming in.
“We also get a lot of food drives around the holidays around Thanksgiving and Christmas. we really get a lot of organizations that are really focused on that and they will do food drives and bring those cans and we distribute them then. we don’t during the course of the year have as much of that but we are providing the hot meals consistently 3 times a week,” said Buffington.
The food drives may not be as common during the warmer seasons but they are still there.
2 years ago Camgian, a local company in Starkville, added a food drive to their annual Lunch and Walk event.
Office Manager and organizer of this event, Ann Johnson, says that Camgian is big on community support and tries to help as much as they can.
“We know that there is a food shortage in the area and we have participated and gotten involved with some of the local food banks and food pantries and we know what it takes to feed the local people who cant afford to buy groceries for themselves so its a great mission and it’s a great way to support our neighbors and to provide solutions to a need,” said Johnson.
Johnson says that local businesses are also doing what they can to help support the cause.
“some of the local restaurants and businesses donated gift cards and other items to provide for the raffle and we are able to encourage people to bring canned goods and raffle off some fun prizes,” said Johnson.
It’s all about helping out the community.
If you would like to help with this food shortage you can always find Starkville Strong or The Casserole Kitchen on Facebook.
