Food for Thousands

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: December 2023

The folks who run the food pantries on the Plateau take pride in what they have accomplished in the past year and their numbers prove it.

Despite supply chain interruptions, and health risks to volunteers and staff brought on by Covid, they have supplied thousands of meals.

Larry Morris, Executive Director at Cashiers’ Fishes & Loaves, tells me that in 2020 they provided meals to 2,530 families, a cumulative total of 7752 individuals.

Highlands Food Pantry director Bonnie Dayton says that in September alone, they fed 314 families or 769 individuals. And as winter arrives, and seasonal jobs disappear at local country clubs and in second homes, these numbers are forecast to rise.

On Mondays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:30 P.M., those in need in Cashiers can receive a box of food stocked with about 20 items of nutritional value – rice, pasta, canned beans, canned tuna, juice, soup, canned vegetables, frozen proteins. Additional items are available for individual selection at the front of the pantry – including fresh produce, bread, and personal items.

The Highlands Food Pantry has recently expanded its hours and is now open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Set up much like a grocery store, individuals can shop for items displayed on shelves – canned goods, produce, bread, fresh proteins (fish, chicken, and different cuts of beef), eggs, and shelf milk. Customers are allowed a certain amount within each category but can select their own items.

There will be a special Christmas dinner box for clients at the Cashiers Pantry. After a hiatus last year due to the Pandemic, the annual Christmas fundraiser for the Highlands Food pantry is scheduled for Saturday, December 4, following the Highlands Christmas Parade. For $10, participants can receive a lunch to include a barbecue sandwich prepared by the folks at Wilson Gas, complete with chips and cookies. The location of the event is still to be determined.

Donations of personal care items, feminine hygiene products, and household cleaners are sought by both pantries, and cash contributions are always welcome. Getting free food to needy people is labor-intensive as well and the Highlands Food Pantry is seeking volunteers.

Those willing to donate time or contribute can contact Larry Morris at Fishes & Loaves in Cashiers at [email protected] or (828) 508- 0378; and Bonnie Dayton at the Highlands Food Pantry at [email protected] or (828) 200-5524.

The Highlands Food Pantry is located at 315 Main Street, behind and below The Highlands United Methodist Church. Fishes & Loaves is located at 549 Franklin Allen Road.