Hello, all, and happy July! I hope you all have a great holiday weekend planned. The pantry is still plugging along, and for the last few weeks, we’ve had the added resource of FRESH veggies from NUUrture!! These are being distributed on Friday mornings. Thanks to everyone involved!

In other pantry news, we are low on EVERYTHING! Please consider dropping a few things off when you get a chance—even one or two items is a big help.

Things we particularly need:

• Soup.  This is an ongoing need. We like to keep high-protein soups as well as regular soups in stock. No need to check labels if you’re donating—just grab some soup and we’ll sort it out! All soups are welcome! We are soup-inclusive!
• Canned fruits and vegetables.  It seems we always have a lot of corn. Not to say we would turn down corn, but it would be great to get a wider variety. (Right now, we have corn and nothing else.) Peas, green beans, mixed veggies, canned potatoes—you name it, we’ll take it! We also don’t get canned fruit on a very regular basis. Peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, fruit cocktail—whatever you like! Fruit cups are also welcome.
• Tuna or chicken. Canned or packaged. Cans with pull-tops are great!
• Beans. All kinds of beans! Black, navy, white, kidney, chickpeas—these are all great proteins.
• Feminine hygiene products. We try to keep a stock of these and distribute them on the regular, but we have been completely out for a few weeks now. Tampons, pads—all welcome. I would suggest looking for unscented products, as people might have allergic reactions to the perfumes.

Other items:

• Pasta. Mac n cheese, pasta sides, boxes of plain pasta.
• Shelf-stable milk.
• Cereal. Single-serve cups or boxes of cereal. (Full-size boxes are fine, too, although sometimes they don’t fit in the pantry very well.)
• Snack/meal kits. Hormel Compleats is an example, or tuna salad kits.

When it comes down to it, though, we could use anything and everything. The cupboards are sparse, unfortunately. Even a modest pantry fill includes $150-$200 worth of food, and we are putting at least that out every day.

Donations can be placed in the bin just inside the south-side doorway. Pantry cleanouts are great, but do please check the expiration dates on products, and we can only take items that are unopened.

Thanks again for everything you do!