Your opportunity with Food for All to help restock the shelves of local food banks, in partnership with Co-op grocery stores in Carman, Altona, Morden and Winkler, begins Thursday (April 18th).

Each Thursday, over the coming weeks, Golden West radio announcers will be spending time on location in each community's respective food store.

Today you will find Ronny Guenther and Nicole Klassen at Homestead Co-op in Carman from 9 am to 6 pm inviting you to help replenish the needs of the Carman Food Pantry.
    
Terra Huston is the Chair of the Carman Food Pantry The non-profit organization was established a little over a year ago.

Huston said, when they first started, the Carman Food Pantry served about 30 households. Now, they're serving up to 120 families a month. She says the need has stabilized a bit over the last couple of months, but initially, their growth was significant.

"This is such an important need in our community and any one of us at any time could be struggling. It's a different world right now, groceries are through the roof, and gas is expensive. It's a challenging time for many families, and at any point, any one of us can feel that challenge," stated Huston.

"So those that have extra that can give, it's (Food for All) a way to support your local people. It's a way to help empower people, and it's a way to help your community. 

Huston says they're seeing a lot of families finding it hard to make ends meet, and they've been very grateful for the food pantry. "Right now, we're once a month, and I think it can be a long month for families." 

"When we get our donations in from Manitoba Harvest, it changes every month, so we're not sure what we're going to get. When we have money (grocery gift cards) we can spend at the Carman Co-op, we can supplement what we've got. Maybe we need to buy extra cereal or pasta." For some families, Huston says it means they can get things they normally wouldn't, like margarine or eggs. "So when we have prepaid gift cards, we can supplement what we've got in and we're able to purchase extras to make it go further so that all families receive the benefit." 

Huston said some of the families they serve are also quite large, with up to 10 people in a household. "So the more food we have and the more variety of food we have, it certainly helps these families."

From 9 am until 6 pm tonight, you can help Carman Food Pantry with Food for All. The easiest way to help is to buy a pre-loaded Co-op grocery card for those in need.

All you need to support the Carman Food Pantry through Food for All can be found here, and also listen for CFAM Radio 950, Eagle 93.5 and Country88 on location today from 9am to 6pm

~ With files by Ronny Guenther ~