Charities gear up

Local charities cross their fingers and face a plummeting market as they place orders for their holiday donations this year.

The West Texas Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and the Permian Basin Mission Center are just a few charities getting geared up for the holidays, but will need more help this year to face bigger demands.

"We are the shortest we've been in years because there is such a demand," food bank director Hyta Folsom said.

She said a lot of agencies rely on the food bank for their donations, and they're hearing more demand from those they serve.

"People are hurting all over and we have to feed them," Folsom said. The cause - higher gas prices, food prices and cost of living in general, she said.

She said last year she received 2 million pounds less in USDA food products than the 3.9 million pounds received the year before, which was a trickle down effect from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita the previous year.

However, Folsom said the agencies will make sure the people they serve have a decent Christmas.

Folsom and her staff at the West Texas Food Bank are preparing for the Thanksgiving Day Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso for a food drive competition where they raised 55,000 pounds of food last year.

They hope to raise 100,000 pounds to replenish the stock Hurricane Ike depleted last month.

Folsom was glad to receive the news Monday afternoon that the University of Texas of the Permian Basin will put on a canned food drive for the city's food bank. She needs all the help she can get to prepare for the holiday season.

"We're just hoping to have more food available this year and a bigger variety," Folsom said.

Meals on Wheels added a new item this year to the charity's grocery list - it will now include paper goods in its holiday gift bags.

"You can't buy paper goods with food stamps," Margaret Burton, Meals on Wheels director, said. She realized there was a need for these items in a time when everyone is pinching pennies.

Meals on Wheels is doing more than putting food in clients' bellies and making sure they have enough toilet paper - the organization hopes to get them out of the house, too.

"We think this is going to be a special year," Burton said.

Burton said a majority of the 490 clients Meals on Wheels serves doesn't have a chance to get out and see the lights, so she plans to take them to McKinney Park and to select residential areas.

Minnie Shipman, director of Permian Basin Mission Center, said her organization prepares 600 boxes for local families in need, but like other agencies it relies on the West Texas Food Bank to get that food at a lower cost.

"We couldn't exist without the food bank, and they are having a harder time this year," Shipman said.

> The West Texas Food Bank is in need of canned, non-perishable fruits and vegetables more this year than in a long time. If you wish to hold a canned food drive and donate to the West Texas Food Bank, they would be happy to accept anything the community has to offer.

>> Call the food bank for more information: 580-6333