More than 9,600 cans of food were collected Nov. 5 as donations to The Caring Day in Hartselle, a humanitarian project aimed at providing basic food items for needy families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays
“The canned food count stands at 9,676 cans with two churches not yet reporting,’ said Susan Seibert, project coordinator.  “We did better last year with a count that exceeded 11,000 cans; however, the smaller number may be the result of a depressed economy. We want to thank everyone who participated.  The food that was donated will be a big help to a lot of families.”
Students from Bethel Baptist School spent several hours at The Caring Place in Hartselle on Friday sorting and packaging the canned goods.  The donated food items will be distributed to needy families from the Caring Place in addition to food pantries at First United Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene and Pattillo Street Church of God.
“We’re running low on canned goods and are expecting to see an increase in the number of families seeking help over the next couple of months,” said Caring Place director Virginia Alexander.
“This supply will keep us going and we want to thank everyone who donated.”
“We have helped families on an emergency basis since we started our food pantry about a year ago,” said Church of the Nazarene Pastor David Milton. With these donations we’ll be able to expand our food ministry and help a lot more families.”
Charlie Oden said the food received by First United Methodist Church would help feed about 75 families during the holiday season.