Bunker Hill community donates over 8,000 food items to their food pantry in two days

On Saturday, Nov. 27, the Bunker Hill area Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts delivered 4,125 food items to the Bunker Hill Food Pantry, located in the annex of the United Methodist Church, at 501 E. Warren St. The following Wednesday, the pantry received donations from the Bunker Hill Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church congregation followed by the Kiwanis Bunker Hill schools collection. The food pantry volunteers estimate that the Bunker Hill area community donated over 8,000 food items in total over those two days.

Bunker Hill Zion Lutheran Church Pastor Brian Holle assisted in carrying his truck full of food donations inside. When a volunteer remarked at the size of the donation he said, "Our congregation is very generous."

According to Scout Leader Joe Rather, "Scouting for Food started in 1985, and the Bunker Hill Troop and Pack have participated as long as I can remember. We serve Bunker Hill, Prairietown, Shipman, Woodburn, and now Gillespie. Food items are brought to the pantry in the community in which they are gathered, whenever possible."

Bill Hanks, president of the Bunker Hill Kiwanis, said, "The Kiwanis have been conducting this food drive with the Bunker Hill schools for at least 15 years. This year, Wolf Ridge school should get special recognition for how many items they collected."

The Pantry volunteers have no particular spokesperson but comments heard were, "Wow, isn't this community amazing?" Another said, "This kind of stuff makes your heart swell." Longtime volunteer, Francis Weiseman said, "I heard on the radio that a St. Louis food pantry had collected 5,000 items."