Venture Churches Food Pantry has started off the new year in good shape. In January, we provided food assistance to 119 people in 43 households. This included 35 children, 55 adults and 24 senior citizens. We welcomed one new family to the pantry and provided alternate assistance to two families. Thanks to Market 32 in Glenmont, the pantry was the lucky recipient of over 190 pre-packed bags of food. Local shoppers were able to buy a bag at checkout specifically earmarked for donation to VCFP. This is part of Price Chopper's charitable outreach, which has provided more than 50,000 bags of food to local food banks and pantries. We greatly appreciate their support along with that of each Market 32 shopper!
We've focused this month on organizing our stock so we are in the best shape going into the new year. We were happy to learn that we no longer have to date food items in the pantry and this is sure to save us a great deal of time. Due to the generosity of our community, we are not collecting additional food items this month. Cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items are still a need. These items are rarely available for purchase through the Regional Food Bank and are typically not able to be bought using supplemental nutrition assistance.
The ongoing assistance of all our community partners, large and small, continues to make our efforts possible. We are always looking to welcome additional volunteers. If you have a few free hours, we have the heartwarming opportunity for you. Please reach out to venturechurchesfp@gmail.com if you're interested in learning more about joining us.