Food pantries need food year round

Our communities are very generous with food donations around Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Thanksgiving, Christmas baskets and community dinners are blessings to so many. Thank you. 

At the same time food insecurity isn’t just at holiday time. The Basin Area Food Pantry and Greybull Community Thrift Store/Food Pantry give out food year-round.  Thankfully 4H groups, FFA chapters, student councils, churches, etc., periodically do food drives. Those drives have fed a lot of people. The pantries could always use more shelf stable food throughout the year and the holidays. 

In Basin non perishable food donations may be left in the foyer of the Basin Area Chamber on West C Street. Perishable food items such as meat, produce and eggs may be donated by appointment. Call Lori Thon at 307-250-1678 or Charlene Anderson at 307-272-4340. 

In Greybull, non-perishable food items maybe dropped off at the thrift store during their business hours. They also take fresh produce. They cannot take refrigerated or frozen food items. 

 Basin also has a Totes for Hope program that provides weekend food for students. Last year 27 students received bags of food to take home for weekends. Monetary donations run this program. It costs about $600 a month. Hunger distracts from learning and well-being. 

The food is purchased through the Food Bank of Wyoming. Organizers say they could always use more donations to purchase food.  To donate to Totes for Hope you can go to the Wyoming Food Bank website, search for Basin’s Totes for Hopes and donate there. Or you can drop off checks at the Basin Area Chamber. The checks should be made out to Food Bank of Wyoming. 

To quote Wyoming’s First Lady Jennie Gordon, “Hunger doesn’t stand a chance when we all join the fight.”