Pantry seeks food to stock shelves

THE Linton Community Food Pantry’s committee members are calling out for support, with the grassroots food relief service in desperate need of supplies to keep shelves stocked, and bellies fed.

Linton Community Inc president Warren Bowen said many residents of the town are under a lot of financial pressure.

“We’re getting a lot more people using the pantry than ever before,” he said. “But we’re getting a lot less donations of food, so we’re desperately needing those donations.

“We always need pantry staples, like pasta, rice, flour, butter, UHT milk, and anything non-perishable that can keep. Fresh produce is always welcome.”

Mr Bowen said the pantry is the only initiative of its kind in the district, and committee members have noticed people from surrounding towns travelling to Linton to pick up their groceries too.

“We know people from as far as Skipton, Snake Valley, Scarsdale, Happy Valley, and Rokewood are making special trips to access the pantry,” he said.

“We’d like to offer to support and mentorship to volunteers from other towns, so if they would like to, they can get their own local pantry started. It would also alleviate some of our pressure.

“When we first got the pantry started a few years ago, we didn’t find it very difficult to get it up and running.

“We had a key group of older people initially who were donating, because they had also experienced hardship at some point in their lives; these people are not difficult to find.”

The Linton Community Pantry is open from 10am to 4pm, Friday to Monday. Over the weekend, donations can also be safely left at Linton Emporium.